OmniFocus vs Things
I have a very hard time remembering things. Since I don't have a desk,
I get endless ridicule from my coworkers as I leave sunglasses and
coffee mugs and files all over the office like bread crumbs trailing
behind me. I'm especially forgetful if I get sidetracked away from
something important; I might never get back to it. That's why I
adopted GTD, a systematic approach to relying less on your own brain
and more on constant things like paper and pen to recall things for
you. But like so many of my generation, I'm a sucker for technology,
so I went hunting for a great TODO list manager for the mac and
iPhone.
TODO lists. Both are great mac apps, and both have superb iPhone
companions. Both are essentially GTD compatible and do the jobs they
set out to do. So, how to tell the difference? While looking for that
difference, I found that everyone else in the mac productivity world
had compared these two heavyweights already, so I had a lot of
opinions to work with. Reviewers generally found Things far easier to
use and prettier to look at than OmniFocus but claimed OmniFocus
provided far more power and functionality. Both worked for me. I enjoyed working in each enough that I thought
the other wasn't worth trying again. However, what eventually settled
the dispute for me happened outside the program itself. I'm a firm believer that you never buy a product, you buy a company.
Things, while certainly friendly with their marketing and prices, just
doesn’t have the same excited user-base sported by OmniFocus and the
whole Omni Group. Omni has a long track record of great software and
amazing customer service, plus a fully active community. With such a
supportive community, OmniFocus was the clear leader here. A supportive community is especially essential for those practicing
GTD. GTD requires a lot of habit changes all at once, so a supportive
community makes those first steps significantly easier to wade
through. You can all hold each other accountable to the habits you're
all trying to build. A dedicated user-base also means you can get
answers to those inevitable off-the-wall questions from people
honestly interested in them. Things had a forum at one time and
currently hosts a wiki, but it doesn't come close to the vibrant
community of OmniFocus users. I ultimately decided to invest my time and resources in OmniFocus.
However, I don't think OmniFocus is the right tool for everybody. I'm
more rigid in my application of GTD and stranger with my needs.
OmniFocus can be moulded to fit those needs while holding me to GTD
more strictly. Those that are looser with GTD or just want something
that works without much fiddling will find a perfect match in Things. I also rediscovered paper. Ironically, focusing on a digital approach
made me use more paper in my day-to-day routine. I always kept some
blanks by my home computer, but now I also carry around a half-size
legal pad and a multipocket file at work. Now I can have a little
inbox and capture pad with me all the time as an alternative to the
sometimes-cumbersome iPhone (I say as I write this post on one). The lessons I took away are many, but the primary one was that
changing one tool will not make you more productive. You have to
change your relationship to that tool and at the same time use all the
tools at your disposal to get things done.
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