
A new task is created that is due one week from tomorrow and deferred until two days before. Let’s see what happens with each recurrence option. It was scheduled for yesterday and you’re about to check it off a day early. Pretend this task represents something you do regularly. Locate the Repeat settings in the inspector pane.Create a new task titled “Learn Recurrence”.(The calendar grid engages the spatial comprehension part of your brain and helps make the exploration more visual.) If you’re confused by how recurring dates work in OmniFocus, this will be the best five minutes you spend all day. Here’s what I figured out, an entire evening of playing around learning condensed into a few minutes. Then a new version of OmniFocus came out, and I spent some time just playing around with recurring tasks until I figured out how they worked. Eventually, I would need to reset the dates to get back on track. As the weeks went by, the dates on the task would drift further and further from reality. Even though the task was set to repeat weekly, I might do it again in three or four days, or maybe eight or nine.

I would pick the first option (that’s usually the one you want, right?) and go with it. On the surface, they seem pretty similar and not that different. OmniFocus has three options for recurring tasks. It turns out that not all tasks repeat the same way. I felt like I was constantly fighting against my system. It took much longer for it to become easy, though. When I went digital, the tedium left immediately.

Recurring tasks were tedious but easy-you wrote down the task on multiple days, and hoped you didn’t have to shift them around. Some happen once or twice a year, and some feel like they never end.īefore switching to OmniFocus (née Kinkless GTD), I used paper. I can move on and do other things.įor better or for worse, I do a lot of the same things over and over again. There’s something satisfying about finishing something and knowing that it’s going to stay finished. I love completing tasks that I never have to do again.
