Alarms/Alert reminders instead of Due reminders

I am not sure if someone else asked about this yet, but I have items that do not have a due date but I still want to be reminded about it. For example, I want to be reminded at a specific time to do laundry, but I don’t want to set it as a due date (because it’s not actually due).

I haven’t found this in OmniFocus (unless I am missing it). Does anyone else have a suggestion how to make this work for me?

Thanks!

Jason

I use the Due app on the iPhone for these such tasks that are time sensitive. It will constantly remind you until you do it! For me these tasks aren’t meant for Omnifocus.

I have used that one too. I really do like the alert yelling at me until I snooze or complete the task. If at all possible, I would rather just have everything all in the same place.

Right now (if it is the same day) I just set alarms (with no title) on my apple watch and just hope I remember what it is I set an alarm for. :)

For that sort of thing you use a calendar to schedule a task. You can use the Reminders app.

Basically, you use OF for task/project management and a calendar/schedule for time management.

So, if you must schedule it, it belongs on your calendar.

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Thanks @ptwaugh for your response. I don’t use my calendar for anything but upcoming appointments. Maybe I should be rethink that. I want to use OmniFocus as my “everything I need is here” app, but I wonder if that is my issue. I am trying to use OmniFocus for everything.

I should probably clarify how I use OmniFocus and maybe you all can help me figure out what I can do differently. My personal life is very simple. I use OmniFocus for things like deferred reminders (repeating) for household chores like changing the furnace filter. My work life is also not that complicated as I don’t have any direct reports, nor do I lead any projects. Most of my time is already scheduled for me and I have things I have to do at a specific time. I set those up as a project called “Desk Tasks” as single action items. I have then set as due at the time they are due and recurring.

So I the two things I am asking are: How can I use all the tools I need (OF, Calendar, etc.)? and is OF the right tool for me?

Thanks folks!!

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Hi folks!

So after my last post in here, I did a lot of searching on the OF forums and had an amazing “AHA” moment. I never realized how much I didn’t use my calendar…for any kind of time management. Thanks @ptwaugh for bringing that to my attention. I started to use my calendar with OF this week and I can already see an improvement. I am a lot more confident in my system now. Thanks also to @bing098911 for suggesting the use of Due. I am not sure if I am ready yet to use an additional app but I have downloaded it again and may put some of my recurring “must do” tasks that don’t change ever in Due instead of OF.

I think I am on the right track now but I am sure something else will come up soon. Thanks everyone! :)

As much as we wished, it would be hard to have one app that does “everything.” A Swiss Army Knife is a perfect example. It is a tool that does a little bit of everything but not very well. Sometimes, you’ll need a specialized tool for your needs.

My calendar is best for anything that must be done. “Pick up the kids at school” might be a task in OmniFocus but it is probably better as an appointment that resides in the calendar. Pick up the kids at school must happen at 2:30 pm.

I have Thursday morning as my residential trash pick up day, So I have an appointment/alarm set at 9 pm on Wednesday nights as something I must do or else my trash bin won’t get picked up the next day. It could’ve been a task in OmniFocus but I like seeing it in my calendar because I have to be at a certain place and a certain time to do it.

The Mac OS calendar app is pleasant enough. But I’ve fallen in love with Fantastical 2 for iOS and Mac. It makes my calendar experience more pleasant but it does come at a price. But if you live in your calendar a lot more, Fantasical 2 is a worthwhile expenditure. I used to use BusyCal as my go-to calendar but Fantastical won me over. BusyCal on iOS is still at version 1. I’m sure it will get better but Fantastical 2 for iOS is so far ahead.

Hi @wilsonng

You are so right about the one app fix all situation. I can’t believe it took me this long to figure out to use my calendar along side OmniFocus. For the last week or so I have been using Fantastical much more. I start my day adding time on Fantastical for things I need to work on, I have also been using reminders in Fantastical as well as OF. I set up a Fantastical list and OmniFocus list in Reminders so I can just tell Siri to add to which ever list i need. My job requires certain tasks to be performed every day at a specific time. I am now using Fantastical reminders for those task. So far this has been a huge difference in keeping me focused and organized.

Thanks for all of your help everyone!!

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Another “a-ha!” moment I had with my calendar was to set up time blocks.

My day is crazy enough with random customers walking in. This prevents me from really scheduling any single task. I tend to work in batches. I’ll do a lot of admin work or I might work just on computer stuff. Another time, I might be working on cleaning up around the house. It’s usually centered around one project. Housecleaning or preparing for a party might be a single goal or project.

I’ll typically say 10 am - 12 pm will be dedicated to working on a Big Rock project of my choice. I’ll select a project in the Projects perspective and work on just that one project.

Or I might designate that time block as “admin work” time. I will go to my “@Admin” context and work exclusively on admin tasks.

I might have to push the 10 am time block to 1 pm.

In Fantastical, I’ll create an appointment between 10 am to 12 pm. Then give it a general title such as “Work on @office context”.

I’ve noticed that I tend to do my tasks in batches. Identify a theme (@admin, big rock, @office, @house) for that time block and work from there.

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[quote=“wilsonng, post:9, topic:29170”]
my calendar was to set up time blocks
&
work in batches.[/quote]

This setting up time blocks is just fine -
however not related to the original topic of the thread.

I would think that incorporating an option for some sort of alarm into the due task should not be impossible to accomplish for the Omnipeople - they are experts!

As for now I’m using a workaround with Keyboard Maestro and the Due app, which someone else came up with (don’t remember who it was), but it is unreliable (95%) and chunky.

The condition for it is that the task in question has to be at the bottom of the task list in a project. Then KM uses the OF interface to ’jump’ (or select) one part of the task after another - starting with the task title - ending with the due date & time, then copying the latter and creating a new task in DUE app. It works pretty well - I guess if an AppleScript could be written, this would be faster and more reliable.

My piece of a penny,

/
with best regards,
Omar KN
Stockholm, Sweden

I agree with the original request for an alarm option. The replies here indicate that users are finding work-arounds, and that is not ideal. There is no good way to separate tasks that are so important that they need an alarm, from other tasks. I end up putting such tasks into a dedicated alarm app, but end up not using OF as much as I should.