I have actions that were deferred until today and due today, I do this simply because they are due today but I do not want to worry about them until today, so I defer them. Is this the correct way to set them up?
They are weekly repeating actions and sit within a sequential project. This sequential project itself sits within a single action project.
Looking at the Project using the Remaining view these actions are all orange as they are due today and the top level single action project tells me there are a number of due soon actions., yet when I switch the view to Available they all disappear and this is not what I would have expected. The top level project tells me there are due actions but is not showing them to me.
Iâve tried several combinations of nesting these actions and projects but cannot get OF to show me these due actions.
I have other due actions that sit directly in the single action group, they are not nested inside a project, and that shows as expected in the Available view.
The actions Iâm referring to all show as expected in the Forecast so I can only conclude the problem relates to looking at the actions from the project perspective.
It looks correct to me, if I understood correct your scenario:
the tasks show up when you select Remaining in the view filter
they do not show up when you select Available â as you mention itâs a sequential Project, this tasks are probably not yet available (due to a precedent task not being completed yet)
The problem seems to be that you have repeating actions (marked individually as such) as sequential actions (I suppose you have them as a group, inside a single action list, right?). Why is that a problem? Whenever you complete the 1st action in the sequential list, a new one will automatically be created, meaning the 2nd (and all subsequent) will never be Available.
If the above is true, my suggestion is for you to mark all individual actions so they wonât repeat and them mark as repeating, the group (or project) they belong to (see screenshot below). Make sure you check the box Complete when completing last action, then do not worry as the group will be created again once the last action in the sequence is completed.
So OF2 is not actually reorganising the actions based on dates is it?!!
Having a repeating action, with deferred and due dates, as the first in a sequential project means the remaining actions will never become available, in the project Available view will they, even though the defer and due date has moved back a week. This problem also exists in the Context Available view.
What is interesting though is that the actions show in the forecast as due today, as I would expect them to.
I donât know what you mean by what is interesting thoughâŚ
You are right: a relating action, when complete, will generate a new action in the exact same position. And so, the "next action* will be this new action. And yes, that means, the following action will never become the next action, or in other words, will never become available. I donât think this is a problem with OmniFocus, or any other software. Itâs a conceptual issue. There are many ways around it, when you understand exactly what it is.
If you would list some actions, or provide a screenshot, people here will be able to help.
If you prefer some reading material, I recommend the awesome ebook Creating Flow with OmniFocus, by Koroush Dini â which has just had a price drop, as it is still based in OmniFocus 1.
