Learn how to use OmniFocus in combination with complementary productivity apps to take purposeful action that is guided by the bigger picture of your life and work.

Course Overview

This session is designed to help you adopt practices that support you in using your time, energy, and attention effectively. We’ll explore some foundational principles and examine how OmniFocus can help monitor and guide your progress.

Productivity is simply the process of producing results in life and work. Without a sense of direction and an awareness of what’s important to you, productivity can devolve into little more than getting more efficient at going around in circles.

Mastering the Wheel of Life

During the session, you’ll learn about the Wheel of Life, a simple yet powerful tool for focusing on the big picture of your life. It provides a snapshot of your life and is a practical way of emphasizing inner reflection.

Completing the Wheel of Life exercise typically only takes a minute or two. Going through this process regularly (e.g., once a month) can help you determine what areas to focus on and is a great way to monitor your progress across all areas of life. It’s also helpful for identifying areas that aren’t working as well as you’d like.

Before watching the session, you might want to download the Wheel of Life PDF. Keep it handy in digital or paper form as you complete this course.

Horizons of Focus

You’ll also learn about Horizons of Focus, a key concept in David Allen’s Getting Things Done approach. David talks about how our life spans multiple altitudes or perspectives and how each level plays an important role in the overall picture.

The action happens at the ” runway ” level; we crank through widgets (literally or metaphorically) and attend to items on our calendar. As we gain altitude, our perspective shifts to Projects (Horizon 1), Areas of Focus and Accountability (Horizon 2), Goals and Objectives (Horizon 3), Vision (Horizon 4), and ultimately to Purpose and Principles (Horizon 5).

Staying On Purpose

Ideally, everything we do at the runway level aligns with our Purpose and Principles. In practice, however, it doesn’t tend to be this simple. It’s very easy to get caught up in the busyness of day-to-day life and be dominated by distractions.

Additional Resources

• Horizons of Focus PDF — This session includes an overview of an aspect of the Getting Things Done (GTD) approach called “Horizons of Focus”. Download the Horizons of Focus PDF from the Getting Things Done website for a printable summary.
• Atomic Habits by James Clear — James Clear’s book Atomic Habits was referenced several times during the session. You’re encouraged to read this outstanding book and to subscribe to James Clear’s excellent mailing list.
• BrainChains by Theo Compernolle — If you’re interested in gaining a deeper understanding of why we need to take breaks and get an adequate amount of sleep, the BrainChains book by
  Theo Compernolle is an excellent resource. It’s exhaustively researched and contains a wealth of practical information.