OmniFocus for AutoFocus 2
This is a quick update on a 2-week experiment I've just completed using OmniFocus as a tool for implementing AutoFocus 2.
When Mark Forster posted his updates on using AutoFocus I started a new notebook and began using it and loved it. A number of people were posting on his forums about successfully using OmniFocus and other electronic versions. In my opinion this was only made possible with the use of Open Lists in AF2 vs. Closed Lists in AF. I have purchased and have extensively tested both OmniFocus and Things as traditional GTD tools. I have previously stated my preference for Things over OmniFocus, but OmniFocus does provide much better syncing with the iPhone and so I opted to go with OF for this test.
Implementing AutoFocus with OmniFocus is the simplest thing in the world. I simply deleted all my previous contexts and deleted all my previous projects and created one new project called "AutoFocus". Then I clicked on the Contexts button and all my tasks show up as "No Context" which is just fine. Then I work from the bottom to the top. I add tasks using Quick Entry and just type the name of the task and set the Project to AutoFocus. With the Auto Complete this is very efficient.
Because I had only switched to using AutoFocus 2 a few weeks before this experiment I chose to not start over and not re-enter tasks either. I did the unthinkable I used both. I began entering all new tasks in OF and worked backwards and when I reached the top of the list I began working back in the notebook. My thinking was that I would quickly clear the notebook and fully into the OF version. This did not happen. At the end of the 2 weeks I still have 4 open pages in the notebook.
Results
In the 15 days of this experiment I created 337 tasks and completed 234 of them. This seems roughly 50% slower than the progress that I seemed to make with the notebook. I like using the notebook better because although it can be slightly less efficient to enter the tasks (I definitely type faster than I write) and it's less convenient to carry a notebook around I do think there is something important about physically writing things. Overall I think OmniFocus is perfectly fine at implementing the system as I defined it, the inability (perhaps my own) at simulating the physical notion of a page is missing. There is something compelling about completing a page rather than just checking things off one long electronic list.
I found the OmniFocus syncing to the iPhone to work much better this time around. Probably because I was using the tool in a much simpler way. I also found that in the entire time I entered about 2 tasks on the iPhone and checked off about 3. So overall having it was nice when I needed it, but even in those cases my notebook was just as accessible so the benefit was fairly marginal.
Next Steps
Now that Mark Forster has once again revised the system, reincorporating AutoFocus 1 as "Forward Mode" I am going to try that system out for 2 weeks and report the results back. I am going to switch completely over to the notebook again and re-write my current task list over. I'm not in love with the complexity of his new formulation (it feels like a classic coding hack when you know how to make something work, but aren't sure how to streamline it) but I'm going to try to give the system a fair shake. If I can complete that before it changes again I'll also implement my own tweak to the system that I think may resolve my existing issues with AF2 and not being able to get back to the beginning of the list.
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