How to make a global task list

[silvestro]

Hello, coming from other task management softwares, I miss a view where I can see all of my pending tasks by due date, then the first item of current projects, then the following.
Somehow I feel like in Omnifocus the tasks are hidden within some subfolder, and you gotta go chase them actively.
Thanks!

[MarkSealey]

All of that can easily be done with OF Pro 3 - e.g. the ‘Everything’ Perspective. Do you have Pro?

[silvestro]

Yes I have, noticed there are filtering options as many as one would like. So for example, how could I stack in a list ungrouped due soon items on top and grouped active projects below?..
Thanks!

[MarkSealey]

silvestro,

In a custom Perspective you can quite easily filter using ‘cascading’ set of rules adding and deleting at will.

Not being totally sure of exactly how you want to arrange your tasks, I’d encourage you to experiment. For instance you might try setting up Rules which start with a default of everything available sorted by date due so as to get your Due Soons; then experiment in ‘Presentation’ with how you group, then sort, the filtered set.

I do wonder, though, whether, to extract due soon items (the ‘Date & Time’ > Due Soon Preference will need to be set; and maybe exploited) from their Projects is the most helpful way to view them. Might you get just as much by actually including tasks’ Projects in those groups at the top?

[wilsonng]

I freak out when I have an “everything” perspective. It’ll be super long for me.

I have noticed that my planning perspectives where I do my planning and reviewing tends to be very long. But when I want to work, my action perspective tend to be more focused and short. There are just a handful of tasks in my action perspectives.

OF3’s custom perspectives lets me slice and dice so that i can just go down a row of action perspectives to know what i really want to do.

Action perspectives

When I’m going outside, I visit the errands perspective. When I’m at home, I look at my home perspective. When I’m at the office, I’m only concerned about my office work. When I’m finally in front of my computer, I look at my @computer perspective.

An everything perspective just drowns me.

for @silvestro’s workflow, I might just review my group of perspectives…

Due perspective
Current Projects (showing first available tasks only)

After reviewing these to get the general overview of what’s on deck for today, I’ll start cranking on overdue/due today items in the Due perspective. I’ll avoid the Current Projects perspective because I’m prioritizing my work on due stuff. I might try to get ahead of myself and start work on a due soon task (due within the next 2-3 days) so that I don’t have to worry about it later. If I can get something done earlier then I’ll go ahead and do it. Then I’ll turn in the work on the due date.

Afterwards, I’ll get to my Current Projects perspective showing only the first available tasks.

OF3 has forced me to rethink my need to have any “Everything” perspective. My action perspectives are intentionally short so that I can focus on the immediate and urgent before doing the other stuff.

---

• Planning perspectives can be as long as needed and show as many task items inside.
• Action perspectives should be as short as possible. I can focus on what I need to do now without getting distracted by other tasks that don’t need to be addressed just yet.

Yes, I know that we do have to get to the Not Urgent/Important projects (from the Covey Matrix) eventually but sometimes other priorities such as the boss, spouse, family, or clients might crowd out my Not Urgent/Improtant projects.

I work one the urgent tasks (urgent/not important and urgent/important) first in the Due perspective. Then I work on my pet projects in the Current Projects perspective.