I’ve dropped off from OF since v4 release, to save me time reinstalling etc I just wanted to check, is it still the case that all tasks inherit both their due date and tag from their parent? I know this got asked a lot in the past but don’t know if this behaviour is current.
DEFER & DUE DATES
Defer and due dates are inherited from the parent.
For example, if a project is deferred until December 1 and due on December 20, the actions and action groups you add to this project will inherit these dates.
If a project becomes available on December 1, it makes sense that its actions will also be available on that date by default. Similarly, all of the project’s actions would need to be completed by December 20 as they contribute to the project’s outcome.
Actions and action groups can be overridden on a case-by-case basis. For example, a project might become available on December 1, but there may be an action that can’t be performed until December 5. Similarly, there may be an action within the project that needs to be completed by December 10, even though the project itself isn’t due until December 20.
TAGS
If you tag a project or action group, actions added directly to this project/group will inherit this tag. Once the new action has been created, the inherited tag can be deleted.
If the new action originates from Quick Open or the Inbox, the tag will only be inherited if the tag field is undefined.
For example, let’s say I have a single action list called “Household” tagged with “Home.” If I create a new action using Quick Entry such as “Water the plants” and assign a project of “Household” and leave the tag field blank, “Water the plants” will be added to Household with a tag of “Home”.
If I specify one or more tags in Quick Entry, the Home tag won’t be applied. For example, if I create a “Shop at Home Depot” and tag it with “Errand”, the Home tag won’t be applied. In this case, I wouldn’t want a Home tag applied as this action can’t be done when I’m physically at home.
The same logic tag applies to processing items in the Inbox.
With a few exceptions, I don’t apply tags to projects. In some cases, it can be helpful to add a tag to an action group. For example, if the action group contains a list of people to call, it would make sense to apply a “Phone” tag to the action group to avoid adding the Phone tag to each action manually.
I hope this helps!
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Thank you. Yeah that’s the old default behaviour so I guess its not changed, but it always irritated me.
In terms of dates, if I have a big project, then most of the actions to do with that project have to be done before the day the project is due. Each action may or may not have their own due date (mostly they don’t), but it certainly isn’t the project due date. That’s way too late. So almost every Next Action gets auto-created with an incorrect due date.
In terms of tags, I use tags to tell me there’s some support material for the project or next action, like a note in DevonThink. But support material relevant to the project may not be relevant to each next action. It might be a couple of high level thoughts about the project, that I don’t need to see if Im just confirming the date of a meeting with someone by email. But if I see a tag telling me there’s some support material, then I have to check it, only to frequently find its not relevant.
So in practice, when I used tags or dates on Projects, then the Next Actions underneath them kept inheriting incorrect tags and dates that I have to whack a mole, which after months and years gets tiresome. This just feels like it could be a settings toggle, so I was hoping it might get addded.
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When working on big projects, I typically create multiple, smaller projects in OmniFocus and put them all into a folder representing the larger project.
So in practice, when I used tags or dates on Projects, then the Next Actions underneath them kept inheriting incorrect tags and dates that I have to whack a mole, which after months and years gets tiresome.
Consider only using tags for actions, not for projects. And having small, more specific projects would likely make managing dates easier.
This just feels like it could be a settings toggle, so I was hoping it might get added.
This would be a useful addition. I recommend submitting this request to Omni if you haven’t already done so.
When working on big projects, I typically create multiple, smaller projects in OmniFocus and put them all into a folder representing the larger project.
That only works when the project has natural sub-projects. Most don’t, they just take a few weeks to complete and thus can’t be left til the last minute to start.
Consider only using tags for actions, not for projects. And having small, more specific projects would likely make managing dates easier.
That kind of defeats the purpose why I’m using tags in the first place if I’m honest, which is to remind me that there’s support material linked to the Project.
This would be a useful addition. I recommend submitting this request to Omni if you haven’t already done so
Alas and alack, I have done a couple of times over the years, without joy. I was hoping it would be added to 4, but if it hasn’t done, I imagine it won’t be forthcoming,
That said, I remembered a trick from OF1 or 2 era whereby you put tags in your notes and use text searches for perspectives, I might see if that works. Thanks for the advice!
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That only works when the project has natural sub-projects. Most don’t, they just take a few weeks to complete and thus can’t be left til the last minute to start.
I often add what I call “progress actions” to projects. These are repeating actions that prompt me to go into a project and take action on whatever tasks are available for a defined period of time. I talk about this approach (among other things) in a recent video showcasing my OmniFocus setup and workflows.
You could add some text and/or an emoji to either the project name or notes to identify, for example, projects that have support materials. This provides a visual queue, and Custom Perspectives can look for this information.
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timstringer, I also tried to use trigger “actions”, giving them more or less the same name as the project and “due dates” so that they pop up on the given date to show me that I should look into the project again. I have to admit it just added complexity without much benefit. So I dropped this approach.
There is also another approach proposed by Colter Reed “A More Powerful Way to Schedule Tasks” on his website using tags like “Monday”, …, “next week”, and so forth. You can apply these tags to the individual actions of the project and use the due date of the project as the last point of time when it is really due. It is a useful approach having a different format for scheduled dates for the single tasks apart from the due date for the project in total. The rescheduling of course requires discipline. But this is key anyway;-) It may also be helpful to read the contributions of Monika: Display tasks in perspectives
Thanks for sharing your experience, @gh.53.
I recommend checking out the excellent Scheduling plug-in by @kaitlin. This plug-in makes it easy to create tags corresponding to future dates.
The Update Schedule action must be run daily to update the tags. I run it automatically using Keyboard Maestro, but this action can also be run manually.
Thank you. I’ll check it out.
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In the end I’ve just started putting the due date for projects as text in the title & only using due dates for Next Actions. Not ideal since you can’t use Forecast this way, but better than nothing.
