OmniFocus 4.5

OmniFocus 4.5 With so many great task managers available these days, people sometimes ask me why I’m still using OmniFocus after 15 years. Believe me, I’ve tried them all and OmniFocus remains the best solution for me.

One of the reasons is that The Omni Group never rests. The most recent update to OmniFocus, version 4.5, re-engineered all of the Shortcuts Actions. Because OmniFocus is built using Swift, they were able to add a bunch of new Shortcuts Actions in addition to keeping the old ones for legacy support. (I tried to get a screeenshot of all of available actions, but there were too many. They wouldn’t fit on my 6K monitor.)

Even after all these years, automation is only getting easier with OmniFocus.

NotePlan Auto-Templates

Recently, NotePlan released version 3.14, which includes the ability to auto-generate templates based on the calendar item. I note this because I requested this specific feature when we discussed NotePlan recently on the Mac Power Users. NotePlan continues to impress me.

Since we aired that episode, I’ve heard from many listeners who have adopted the app and are enjoying it. Here are just a few things I like about NotePlan:

The data format is plain text using Markdown syntax saved to your local drive, just like Obsidian.
A one-man developer team actively develops it. Over the years, he’s proven his dedication to the app and willingness to tackle significant feature additions.
It’s a native app on all the Apple platforms.

To me, NotePlan lies somewhere between Obsidian and Apple Notes. It’s closer to Obsidian in implementation but has fewer customization options.

When I set up my 2025 technology stack, I’m going to be looking very closely at this application.

Tasks are Stored Intentions

I recently heard my friend, Kourosh Dini, explain tasks as “stored intentions”. I think that’s a wonderful outlook for tasks. Too often, we think of tasks as obligations or future sources of guilt. And really, all they are is unfulfilled intentions.

Intentions, like tasks, can change. They should adapt as circumstances change. This flexibility is more important than any task management tool. It reminds you that your attitude towards task management and your choice to commit to a task are personal and can be adjusted to suit your needs.

Digital + Analog Tasks (MacSparky Labs)

I’ve been running an experiment with the Analog Card system where I’m transitioning tasks to analog cards in the last few days before I perform them. It’s giving me the advantages of a digital plus an analog system without much extra time. So far, I’m digging it. Here’s an explanation of the experiment so far…

This is a post for MacSparky Labs Level 3 (Early Access) and Level 2 (Backstage) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?