Reminders in the Forecast view

OmniFocus
#1

Hi there,
I used the flag and defer method for reminders in OF2. I used this for things that need to happen or remind me to do, like pay the phone bill and so forth.

I created a custom perspective for this

any suggestions on how to add these “reminders” to OF3 so they show in the forecast view.

Thank you

Usecases for 'Today shows items with this tag'?
#2

This is what the Forecast Tag is great for. I also used to flag and defer, but now I Forecast Tag and defer, allowing me to use flags for other purposes (importance or urgency), since it creates a visual distinction.

Cheers,

ScottyJ

1 Like
#3

So it I tag today and defer for the 15th of the month?

Will it first show up in forecast on the 15th?
Will it stay in forecast even if I don’t complete it?

Thanks for all your help.

#4

Yup! Assuming “Today” is a Forecast Tag (bonus marks: Forecast Tag is a per-device setting, so you could have different things on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone, for example, depending on what you want to appear there).

You bet!

Yes indeed! Anything tagged with the Forecast Tag and available (or coming available today) will show in the Today view of Forecast. You can also do fun stuff with sequential projects or action groups to block things with Forecast Tag (they won’t actually show up in Forecast until unblocked, so a neat way to have things appear one by one based on completion of predecessors).

Hope this helps,

ScottyJ

1 Like
#5

Awesome thank you!

#6

But if you just set the defer date (without a due date) and in the Forecast settings (“All days show”) turn on Deferred Items, you will see all items listed whose deferred date is today or in the past. They don’t need to be tagged with the Forecast Tag (this is on my iOS device).

Certainly, if you don’t want to see all items whose defer date is now or in the past, then use the Forecast Tag and turn off Deferred Items in Forecast settings. (But why wouldn’t you want to see such deferred items without due dates, otherwise why use deferred dates?)

1 Like
#7

I don’t look at deferred dates in Forecast, myself. I have deferred dates on three kinds of things:

  1. Deferred to and due on the same date: I can’t do something until a specific day, and it must be done on that day.
  2. Deferred and Forecast Tagged: I cant do something until a specific day, but I want to be made aware of it on the day it becomes available.
  3. Deferred: I can’t do a thing until a specific day.

In the case of the first two, showing deferred in the Forecast is duplicative, meaning I’d see these twice since they already meet other conditions of Forecast inclusion.

In the case of the third, I look at available actions across my system all the time as options for things I could do. Deferring things keeps them out of such views, because deferring makes them unavailable. This is my most common use of deferral, and I’ve no care what days these become available. I only care what is available and what isn’t. The day something becomes available doesn’t matter.

Just thought I’d share how I use defer dates.

ScottyJ

2 Likes
#8

For me, the interval between deferred and due (for those tasks using both) is the time I have to get the task done. I want to know when the deferred date is in play. “Reminders” are a special case. They’re items I want to get done (deferred but no due date) but there’s no rush.

Hence I have the deferred turned on in Forecast settings. I’ll keep playing around with this workflow to see if using Forecast Tag has an advantage.

2 Likes
#9

Ah gotcha. And I operate similarly, but I keep Due Soon set to a week, so I see upcoming due (and available) highlighted in Forecast that way.

Love that there is flexibility for all kinds of different workflows!

ScottyJ

1 Like
#10

Thanks for all the options. One will work perfectly!

I’ll have to play now and see which I prefer