Ease of use of OF and OF course review @SteveU?

[Mojojo]

Dear @SteveU and others,

In reply to your comment on " What productivity course for OF did you find most useful?" could I ask you a few questions?

I’m a new user and can’t seem to PM you. I recently bought OF and want to learn to apply Omnifocus through a course and stumbled upon your post. I can really relate to what you posted. I can see myself doing a 4500 task brain dump in the hope to reduce stress and create focus but I can already feel that I can lose track on seeing “the trees in the forest.” And likewise “I was hoping to find a way to have the really important things pop up to the surface.”

Many, fellow AD(H)D, users recommended Kourosh Dini’s course https://www.kouroshdini.com/creating-flow-with-omnifocus-3-now-available/. Have you tried his course and if so would you like to share your experience?

Have you tried other programs such as Things or Todoist and if so would you like to share why you are using OF and not one of those?

Other tips and recommendations are of course welcome.

If you find the chance to reply that would be awesome. In any case a happy, productive and satisfied 2021 to all of you!

Background information:
Naturally, I’m a chaotic type with many ideas, ambitions and projects (never tested but can identify with AD(H)D traits). At times this can give me an overwhelmed feeling and reduces my productivity without giving the satisfaction of getting things done.

I have gone through the productivity books, not GTD but all linking to GTD, and have used apple notes for years. My method was: one note with all the separate projects and bullets of notes/todo’s. For big projects a separate note. And one note with todays tasks (simple and clear). All my ideas, notes, archived conversations are all in the same app and its just one big messy list. And just bought OF.

I would like OF to reduce stress by giving me the confidence that I’m doing what I should be doing without things slipping through the cracks. While, slightly neurotically, having my many aspiring projects well organized somewhere only to show up when I need them to show up. But instead, I can see this system can be made quite complex, become a lot of work and create stress. So I’m not sure if OF is the right program to me (if its worth the work to make it the right program) and maybe I should use a simpler program.

[wilsonng]

I’d say create a workflow or series of habits that ks easy and repeatable first. The app won’t matter if the habits are sloppy. If I decide to take up weight training but my technique and form are bad, buying a bunch of weights won’t help.

Start off with habits like capturing, reviewing (daily, weekly, monthly), and doing sounds easy but cane difficult. It’s the act of repeating them that makes your system work.

@Kourosh 's book is an excellent starting point if you learn via books. It’s a thoughtful guide using sound principles to guide you on your way in OmniFocus.

If you learn better through videos, get David Spark’s OmniFocus Video Field Guide.

Long-time users, @rosemaryjayne and @nostodnayr have their Build Your OmniFocus workflow book available at

Build Your OmniFocus Workflow

Another great asset is @timstringer 's Learn OmniFocus web site. PM him or visit his web site for more info. He has a bunch of Workflow videos on YouTube where he sits down with various users and walks through their workflow. You should find a nice workflow or create a hybrid of what you want/need. The Learn OmniFocus web site also has “Office Hours” every month where he sits down with various users to answer questions about their setup.

Learn OmniFocus | OmniFocus Video Tutorials, Articles & Webinars

In any case, you don’t have to use all the features in OmniFocus. It’s nice to know they are there and will be available when you are finally ready to use them. There’s no need to overcomplicate your workflow by trying to use a feature just because it’s there.

[Mojojo]

Thank you for your tips @wilsonng!