Horizon Levels in OF

How are being handling the levels of horizon from GTD in Omnifocus? I love the idea of setting this up within the app so that I am really focusing in on projects under each goal or vision etc. and ensuring each of those is “filled” with activity. I came from FacileThings which had a very specific structure and functionality for it. I am not really seeing that in OmniFocus.

My OmniFocus folder structure is based on Horizon 2 (Areas of Focus and Accountability), which easily gives me the ability to focus on specific areas of life.

I use parallel/sequential projects for Horizon 1. These projects have well-defined outcomes and typically have short time frames (sometimes I even start and complete a project within the space of a day).

Ground-level actions live in parallel/sequential projects if they contribute to a defined outcome or in single action lists if they’re they’re one-off or repeating actions that contribute to an area of life or work.

I don’t store information related to Horizons 3-5 in OmniFocus. Instead, I have repeating OmniFocus actions that prompt me to review these horizons. For example, I have an OmniFocus action called “Review: Horizon 5 - Purpose” that repeats weekly and links to a note in Craft. Based on this review, I may make some tweaks to the Craft note and/or add/update OmniFocus.

So based on this a few questions / comments:

  1. This makes a lot of sense. OF doesnt seem setup well for the higher levels.
  2. I have the same. A folder for each Area of Focus. Underneath that I have one single action list for single actions and projects as appropriate. It sounds like that mirrors what you do.
  3. I have mixed thoughts on Someday/Maybe. Do you tag them within the Area of Focus or maintain a separate list?
  4. Any suggestions on best ways to keep the horizons 3-5? Is it as simple as just keeping an apple notes list, any better practices you have found? I really want to move in the direction of having purpose, vision, goals, and my project list together (I dont need the next actions) as otherwise I find that sometimes I lose track of the higher levels and my projects fall off of my intentions. I start working on things not that important to my long term goals because they are short-term needs. however, this means I will need to replicate my project list between OF and some other tool. Sounds like some maintenance work unless it is worth it?

I reserve OmniFocus for well-defined, projects and actions that I’m committed to completing.

I generally don’t keep someday and maybe items in OmniFocus. I find OmniFocus is most useful and relevant if it’s used exclusively for well-defined projects and actions. Mixing in someday and maybe items make OmniFocus feel cluttered and less useful/relevant. I do, however, have repeating actions that prompt me to review my someday and maybe lists.

I generally keep my personal someday and maybe items in Craft and collaborative lists (e.g. requested website features) in Asana.

I’ve primarily been using Craft to track higher horizons. Conceptionally, Craft is similar to Apple Notes, though it provides more flexibility in some areas. Most notably, it’s easy to cross-link notes and, since Craft is based on the text-based Markdown syntax, it’s easy to import and export notes. Obsidian is another notes app that’s worth a look. Like Craft, it’s based on Markdown.

My strategy is to keep projects (and actions) in OmniFocus and to include links to projects within notes for visibility and convenience. I also have a “Projects - Active” perspective in OmniFocus that I review once a week.

I included some free lessons with my Linking OmniFocus: Beyond Task Management course that illustrate how multiple apps can be combined together to create what I call the “Ultimate Productivity App”:

https://learnomnifocus.com/lessons/linking-omnifocus-what-is-a-productivity-system/

I hope this helps!

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