But ignoring due dates can quickly lead to the “due date hell” that I showed earlier in this article.

The thing is, now you’ve got a big red number in OmniFocus: You prioritized well during the day, so the three tasks you didn’t get to are the aforementioned buying bananas, wiping your sunglasses, and washing your bedsheets. Now you’ve got three tasks that are “overdue”. But life happens and you “only” complete eight of those tasks. So you might want to complete 11 tasks today, and make them all due today in OmniFocus. Let’s say you use due dates to mark when you’d like to have a task completed. Unfortunately, when you assign too many due dates, you dilute their signaling effect. It can be tempting to assign due dates to all tasks, even those with minor consequences if you don’t complete them by a certain date, just to minimize any negative results. They tell you to start working on a task or project by a certain time so you can have it done by the due date. What is their mistake? They assign too many due dates. But they’re making a crucial OmniFocus mistake that achieves the opposite: it demotivates them and it stresses them out. These people want to get stuff done and want to feel in control of their projects. I call this “due date hell.” It is not a motivating way to start your day.ĭoes your OmniFocus look like the image above? I see this happen all too often to people I work with. Sadly, this causes excessive worry and stress. Yet many people do assign due dates to tasks for even the slightest negative consequences. And certainly, not all consequences merit assigning a due date in OmniFocus. I realize this might sound philosophical, but it’s worth hammering the point home: there are always consequences when you don’t complete a task right now.īut not all consequences are equally bad. Not doing a task means the task won’t be done. If a task is due at a certain time, that means there will be negative consequences if you don’t complete the task by that time.įor many tasks, you can easily imagine the consequences: don’t buy bananas today and you won’t have bananas tomorrow neglect to wipe your sunglasses and they will have some grease spots on them next time you go out postpone washing your bedsheets to the weekend and they will not smell fresh tonight.ĭo consequences such as these merit a due date, though?īy definition, tasks have consequences. For what does it mean for a task to be “due?” Tasks and Consequences In the Forecast perspective, we can see which tasks and projects are coming due.īut some people assign due dates too readily. We can then use that information to decide what to work on today. In OmniFocus, we can look ahead in the Forecast view and see which tasks or projects are coming due soon. Or, in OmniFocus-speak, by their due date.ĭue dates help us prioritize. If nothing else, we’d all like to complete our tasks and projects on time. When it comes to managing your projects, a key question is: when do I need to have it done? A doctor must inform a patient of test results before their next appointment. A construction company chief needs to file for a permit by next month. A student’s paper is due halfway through the term.

How to use omnifocus 3