Getting Things Done - Mac/iPhone Software - Application Review

One of the biggest obstacles I face on a daily basis is that of getting what I need to accomplished. At the end of the day, sleep is much more fulfilling if I marked off the objects on my to-do lists and moved closer to my goals. In the past, I never used to-do lists or wrote down any goals. This fly by the seat of your pants way of working often left me feeling anxious and led me to search for a more effective way to manage the things i needed to get done.

I started out making daily to do lists on my iphone's notepad. I immediately noticed the positive effect it had on my life. By simply taking a few minutes to reflect on what I needed to get done the following day, I could check off each task and know exactly what else I needed to accomplish. If I forgot something, i would simply open up the iphone notes app and add it to the list.

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I did this for about a week and really loved how much easier my life became when everything was down on paper and not just floating around in my head. Being able to visually delete a task from the notepad had some sort of motivating effect on me. This method was great for living day to day, but wasn't effective for incorporating goals into the picture as well. I soon began to search for an alternative that could not only manage my day to day tasks, but also incorporate my future goals; both short term and long term.

My requirements for this alternative were:

• -Mac compatible Application
• -Matching Iphone App with syncing
• -To-do lists with alerts
• -Ability to incorporate both Long and Short Term Goals
• -Intuitive user interface

After a quick Google Search i stumbled across a blog post touting the capabilities of a getting-things-done program called Omnifocus and downloaded it immediately from here: http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus

I installed the program, watched both the basic and advanced tutorial videos linked here (Basics): http://www.screencastsonline.com/index_files/SCO0178-omnifocusbasics.php and here(Advanced features):http://www.screencastsonline.com/index_files/SCO0180-omnifocuspt2.php .

Being a student, Business owner, and human being...i created three separate folders for each area of my life, and used the awesome inbox feature to do a mental sweep . After watching the videos and 30 minutes messing around with the app, I was already dreaming about the positive effect this could potentially have on my productivity and life in general (if used consistently!).

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The program comes with a 14 day trial, so i'm going to definitely take advantage of this. I'll post updates regarding my progress with this software next week, as well as how I'm getting along with the iPhone application once I get around to purchasing it.