Preface: this post is about how I’m using OmniFocus to keep track of things. This might not be interesting if you’re not using OmniFocus. Feel free to skip it.

My basic workflow is as follows: I have set up a global hotkey and I’ve set it to ctrl+option+space. Using this all day to quickly jot things down and they end up in my inbox. I have the mobile app too, but I never use it to add new tasks. I’m using Captio for that, and it’s sending everything directly to OmniFocus.

In OmniFocus, you can specify when a task disappears from the inbox. In my case a task is properly processed when it has a project or a context. Currently I’m almost never using the context feature because there is almost nothing I really need a specific context for.

I have a “separate stuff” project which is basically my next actions list for things that don’t need a separate project. At least once a week I’m emptying my inbox, but in practice I’ll do that on a daily basis. I try to attach a deadline to every task. This helps me to balance my workload a little.

OmniFocus plays a huge role in my “three layered approach”: I always work from my calendar (is there anything I have to do right now?) to OmniFocus (tasks for today). Only if I have finished those, I’m moving to my inboxes (OmniFocus + email).

I live in the “Forecast” view. I don’t see my calendar stuff in there. The calendar is the only type of app I’m allowing to send me notifications, so I’ll know when I have to get to something.

Everybody needs to have some kind of a task manager. As your task manager is the back bone of how productive you are, it is absolutely worth spending some time getting the right one and really getting to know your tool.