A practical guide to what belongs in OmniFocus and where to put what doesn’t.
One of the most common questions I hear from OmniFocus users is some variation of: “Am I using OmniFocus the way I should be?” Often, what follows is a description of a system that has grown unwieldy over time, one that started with good intentions but gradually became harder to trust and less pleasant to open.
Over many years of working with OmniFocus users through coaching, workshops, and courses, I’ve had the opportunity to observe what works and what doesn’t. This article shares a perspective that has been put to the test across a wide range of people and productivity systems. It isn’t meant to be prescriptive. Think of it as a framework to use as a starting point and adapt to your own situation.
The article explores a question that every OmniFocus user faces: what belongs in OmniFocus and what doesn’t? It sounds straightforward, but the answer shapes the entire experience of using the app.
Designing Your System
People approach OmniFocus in different ways. Some dive straight in and figure out the details as they go. Others are more intentional from the start. Either way, one of the most common challenges is deciding what actually belongs in OmniFocus.
There’s no shortage of advice on this subject. Some of it encourages keeping a broad range of things in the app: ideas, reference material, someday/maybe lists. That approach works for some people, but in my experience, it tends to clutter the system over time, making it harder to trust and less pleasant to use.
“A place for everything and everything in its place” is an old idea, but it applies as much to digital tools as it does to a well-organised home or office. Whether you’re just getting started with OmniFocus or looking to get your system back on track, it’s worth taking some time to think about its role in your overall system. What is it for? What isn’t it for? Getting clear on these questions can make a significant difference.
Why Not Put Everything in OmniFocus?
It’s a reasonable question. OmniFocus is often within reach, capturing things is quick and easy, and having everything in one place is an appealing idea.
When many things end up in OmniFocus (ideas, wishlists, and more), commitments start to blend in with aspirations. It becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between what you’re committed to and what you’re merely considering.
When OmniFocus becomes a catch-all, it tends to become heavy, overwhelming, and tedious to maintain over time. The app that was supposed to help you feel on top of things can become a source of stress, and something you may find yourself avoiding rather than trusting.
OmniFocus as a Personal Ticketing System
One way to think about OmniFocus is as a personal ticketing system. A ticket represents a clear, committed piece of work, something that has been defined and is expected to be completed. OmniFocus works best when it’s used in the same spirit.
A ticket can be a single action, stored in a single action list. For example, “Book a table at Masala Boyz for Friday night” or “Contact Sarah about the budget proposal.”
When the work is more involved and requires multiple steps, the ticket becomes a project. For example, “Annual Tax Return Filed” or “Q3 Report Published.”
A ticket represents a commitment, not a possibility. It’s something you intend to do, not something you might do one day. When OmniFocus is used this way, it becomes a reliable reflection of your actual commitments, the things you’ve said “yes” to and intend to see through to completion.
When OmniFocus is limited to clear, committed actions and projects, it tends to be something you’ll want to open. It feels manageable, trustworthy, and energising.
Clarity Before Commitment
Before adding projects and actions to OmniFocus, it’s important to have clarity on the outcome and the discrete actions to be taken. This is especially true when approaching something for the first time.
A single action needs to be clear and well defined, beginning with a verb, and placed in an appropriate single action list. For example, “Renew car insurance” or “Review draft proposal.” For a project, there needs to be a clearly defined outcome and at least one next action. If you don’t have at least one next action, it’s a sign that more planning is warranted.
You may find that pen and paper or a whiteboard works well for ideation and planning. There’s something about working in an analogue way that gives ideas space to develop. You may prefer digital tools like MindNode or OmniOutliner for brainstorming and mapping out ideas. AI tools can also be helpful for getting your thinking straight and putting together a plan.
Writing this article followed this process. The thinking, discussing, and planning happened over time. Once there was enough clarity to move forward, a project was created in OmniFocus to manage the work and see it through to completion.
What Doesn’t Belong in OmniFocus
Having a clear sense of OmniFocus’s strengths and limitations makes it easier to recognise what belongs in OmniFocus and what doesn’t.
As mentioned in the previous section, planning and brainstorming are best performed outside of OmniFocus.
Wishlists and aspirational ideas, books you might read one day, movies you’d like to watch, places you’d like to visit, are aspirations rather than commitments. Storing them alongside your actual commitments could add noise without adding value.
OmniFocus is not well suited for storing notes or reference material. While it’s possible to add notes to actions and projects, retrieving that information later is not straightforward. A dedicated note-taking app is a much better home for this kind of content, and many of these apps allow you to share and collaborate with others.
Complementary Apps and Services
An effective productivity system consists of carefully chosen apps and services that work well together.
A note-taking app is an essential component of a well-rounded personal productivity system. Other key components are a task manager like OmniFocus and a calendar.
Apps like Apple Notes, Craft, Obsidian, and Notion work well for notes and can also serve as a home for reference material and project support. Most of these apps support both individual note-taking and collaboration. The Using OmniFocus with Note-Taking Apps course takes a deep dive into using OmniFocus alongside note-taking apps.
There are also more specialised apps and services designed for storing specific types of information. Here are some examples.
- Articles — For articles you’d like to read at some point, a read-later service like Readwise Reader is well suited to the task. Saving articles directly to OmniFocus is worth considering only when reading is tied to a specific commitment, such as preparing for a meeting.
- Books — Goodreads is a popular choice for keeping track of books you’ve read, books you’re currently reading, and books you’d like to read in the future. StoryGraph is a more recent alternative with a cleaner interface and a stronger focus on book discovery.
- Movies and TV Series — Trakt allows you to track what you’ve watched and maintain a list of movies and series you’re interested in watching. Details, including trailers and streaming services, are at your fingertips and you can share these lists with others.
- Shopping Lists — Apps like Apple Reminders and AnyList are well suited to the task and give you the option to share them with other people.
Storing information outside of OmniFocus can raise a valid concern: how do you avoid losing track of that information? One approach is to have actions in OmniFocus that prompt you to regularly engage with what’s kept outside of OmniFocus. The information lives in the appropriate app or service, and OmniFocus helps ensure that it’s not forgotten.
For example, you might have an action to “Review ideas in Craft” or “Choose next book to read from Goodreads,” each linking directly to the relevant information.
Summary and Next Actions
OmniFocus is more useful and attractive when it contains well-defined, committed actions and projects. Aspirational items and reference information dilute its focus and are best kept elsewhere.
If you’d like help designing your OmniFocus setup, the Design Your OmniFocus Setup and Workflows workshop is a great place to start. If OmniFocus isn’t working as well as you’d like, the Getting Back on Track with OmniFocus 4 course and the Get OmniFocus Back on Track workshop are good places to start.