Whats the best workflow for deep work

Hello,

I am interested in creating a workflow for deep work using pro perspectives to make it more powerful but still simple. I am currently job searching and studying a few courses.

My goal is to have a plan for every work session in place beforehand.
For eg, this is what I am going to do Today with the most important tasks appearing first.

Maybe planning each morning using a planning perspective or something similar?

How do I simplify GTD in Omnifocus and use it with deep work?

I have haven’t read that book “Deep Work” yet but I do have a custom perspective called “Big Rocks.” It is a project perspective that is focused on a small handful of projects that I want to focus on during the next 7-14 days.

When I have finished all of my admin work (paper filing, invoicing, maintenance work), I will dive into my deep work by going to the Big Rocks perspective. I will focus my full attention on these handful of projects that are present in this perspective. Here is an example of my Big Rocks this week:

Once a week, I will go to the perspective settings and see what i have in here. I will pick anywhere from 3-5 Big Rock projects to focus on. In my different Areas of Responsibilities (folders), I will pick a maximum of three. So I might have 2 Office Big Rocks, 1 House Big Rock, and 1 Community Big Rock.

If I have more than 1 Big Rock from one folder, I might just like to have flexibility when I get tired of working on Big Rock #1. Then I might switch to Big Rock #2 for a change of pace.

If you look at the Focus section of the perspectives editor, I have 3 Big Rocks. Once a week, I’ll review the focus projects. I can either add or remove the projects that will be in focus. If I finish a current project, I will add another Big Rock to become my next Deep Work project. I try to have one Deep Work project in every area of my life (represented by OmniFocus folders). Currently, the Areas of Responsibility for me are:

You will probably have other folders such as Church, Community, Family, etc. I will try to make sure there will be one Deep Work project (Big Rock) in each folder. But there are times when I might have to just stop work in one area because circumstances change. For example, my personal/family life will take a back seat to my Office life. The Christmas season is the busiest season in my work life and I have to shelve any Home Renovations or Family plans until after the shopping season.

In my setup, I call it the Big Rocks. It can also be called “Deep Work.” But it achieves basically the same thing.

Thank you for sharing your perspective!

I will try it out and see if it works for me.
Do you have any experience from any other app? I switched from the only todo app I have ever used which is Wunderlist and I must admit that I am a bit overwhelmed by all the things I can learn and tweak about Omnifocus. Do you have any tips on how I can find peace in this process? I know that I should focus on the work and not the tools, but I want it to be simple yet powerful. I have PRO on computer but not on iOS would you recommend it on booth?

Yesterday I fixed a plan and today perspective, seems good but I still don’t understand the whole workflow process.

Get the pro for iOS if you want to access your custom perspectives and customize your home screen.

One thing you can do is do an Internet search for “OmniFocus workflows.” You can read their examples and see what you can take from them. It will take a while to figure it out. It’s your own journey where you will discover on your own.

There are many fine OmniFocus tutorial products also available for sale. They will show you their workflows.

But I think it usually breaks down into:

  1. Setting up your projects, folders, and contexts

  2. Learning to consistently capture ideas and tasks into OmniFocus

  3. Using OmniFocus as one tool in an ecosystem of othe task management tools. The calendar, a reference storage (DevonThink or Evernote), and mind mapping apps for higher level goal planning are other parts of your task management ecosystem.

  4. Learning how to effectively review to keep you aware of your projects’ status.

  5. Doing the tasks

You are off to a good start with your today and plan perspective. My Big Rocks perspective was what helped me with deep work. But others might have other suggestions.

Here’s a quote from Bruce Lee that I love

You will make your own system. It doesn’t come easy. But once you get it, you will find your peace.