Franz Sittampalam » productivity

View OmniFocus Tasks on your Desktop with Geektool

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:27:52 +0000

Having next actions staring you at the face can increase the chance of you remembering or deciding to complete them. Some people might print off their lists and post them around the house and it's undoubtedly a good idea to increase the visibility of actionable tasks for this reason but also to ensure you are frequently reviewing what needs to be done, without letting your lists become stagnant.

Here are a few applescripts I put together to get my OmniFocus Tasks to display on the desktop.

You can download the scripts here:

Due Soon | Inbox Count | Next Actions

Which refer to OmniFocus perspectives labelled 'Due', 'Inbox' and 'Contexts" respectively. You can alter the script to suit your own choice of perspective label. For example you may want to show only tasks that you see in the 'flagged' perspective.

In Geektool, you can call the scripts using the command 'osascript [script path]'. Then you can format and position the text boxes in a way that suits you.

I would recommend setting a long refresh period so as not to reduce the risk of the script interfering with your experience of OmniFocus as each pull will switch to the required perspective which can be a nuisance if you are trying to type something.

OmniFocus for Iphone super Quick-Entry (jailbreak)

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:28:24 +0000

If you are a fan of GTD apps you will appreciate the importance of the concept of a quick-entry. The speed it takes for an idea to pop into your head to making a note of it is important for retaining a sense of flow in your day-to-day activities. Instead of executing a task the moment it occurs to you or letting it distract your mind while you continue your current task, dump it in a reliable system knowing you will see to eventually.

OmniFocus introduced the quick-entry many moons ago for mac users but have been unable to do the same for the iphone due to restrictions preventing one app accessing the data of another and the inability to have background processes.

Users of jailbroken Iphones may however use this workaround which allows you to double tap the home button taking you straight to the omnifocus application:

1. Install 'custom homebutton' from Cydia

2. Install 'backgrounder'

3. set omnifocus to run in the background (works well most of the time, try not to background too many processes)

4. Set your homebutton to open doubletap://com.omnigroup.OmniFocus

UPDATE: 14/01/10 Latest omnifocus update allows you to open the app with the quick entry window ready and waiting

4. Set your homebutton to open omnifocus://add?note=optional_note

03/03/10

4. Set your homebutton to open the url: omnifocus:///add?note=optional_note

(update: Thanks to Ron Molenda)

Now every time you double tap it will instantly open up omnifocus!

nokahuna.com tip: quickly access tickets with glimmerblocker

admin — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:33:50 +0000

http://glimmerblocker.org/ is an ad blocker which supports URL extensions.

Once installed you can create a new rule for each of your nokahuna.com projects so that a quick keyword + digit in your browser navigation bar will immediately bring up the ticket number.

1. Goto your systems preferences page and select glimmerblocker

2. Select 'filters'

3. Click the plus button to add a new filter and chose a memorable name for your nokahuna project

4. Click the plus button at the bottom to add a new rule and fill in the following, replacing the keyword with a memorable keyword of your choice and replacing the project number (1098) in the url with your own project number.

That's it, now simply type keyword+ticketnumber to be taken to your ticket.