Tags help you focus on the most relevant actions right now and provide a convenient way to group similar activities.
As you’re designing your OmniFocus system, it can be helpful to consider what tags make the most sense for your life and work. This article will show how a mind map can help determine which tags to include in your OmniFocus setup.
Before we delve into the mind-mapping exercise, I’ll briefly introduce you to the concept of tags. Some other helpful resources for understanding tags are Making Productive Use of OmniFocus Tags (Membership Required), a detailed guide for using tags effectively, and the OmniFocus Tags Directory (Free), which showcases the many uses for tags.
Using Tags for Contexts
David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology introduced the concept of “contexts.” In a nutshell, contexts define conditions that must be present to perform a given action.
For example, replacing a lightbulb in your living room requires being physically at home. Chatting with your spouse about this summer’s vacation would require your spouse to be present in some form. Additionally, some actions might require your full attention, while others may be so easy that you could practically do them in your sleep. It can be helpful to distinguish between the two to make optimal use of your time.
Other Uses for Tags
Tags can be used for more than just contexts. For example, you might have tags used to earmark activities for specific days of the week and ones that define a task’s relative importance or urgency. A tag adds an attribute to a project, action group, or action that further defines its relevance.
Using Tags to Keep Lists Short and Relevant
Looking at a long list of incomplete actions tends to encourage overwhelming feelings, which can lead to procrastination. This list may contain things that can’t currently be done, no matter how much time and energy you have available.
For example, if you’re getting some work done on a flight from Vancouver to Paris, an action of “water plants” is probably not very useful (assuming you don’t have an in-flight Internet connection that gives you access to your plant-watering robot at home). Conversely, An action of “Write the first draft of Chapter 12” might be highly relevant.
By filtering your actions by tag(s) that represent contexts, you’re not wasting time and energy sifting through actions that aren’t available; instead, you are looking at a shorter, more relevant list.
You might also be in a situation where there are two hundred tasks that you could technically do right now, but you would be most interested in seeing a list of carefully chosen actions tagged with “Today” combined with tasks due soon.