To be honest, I can honestly say that I've been an OmniFocus tinkerer for over a year and a half. The reason why I say "tinkerer" is because I think it's a more accurate description of how my usage of it has been since buying my first copy of it. When an application is as open and versatile as OmniFocus, dangers of tinkering are quite high.

On the flip side, I would call myself an OmniFocus user for several months.

So what is the difference between a tinkerer and a user? Aside from the obvious, the biggest hint to me that I've become a full-fledged user was after I listened to the B&B Podcast in which Shawn and Ben discussed their tips and tricks to using OmniFocus.

While I love listening to how people implement an app like OmniFocus into their lives, a sign that I was a tinkerer was when I would allowed the implementations of others to totally derail my strategy and approach. For example, If I came across how one person would do X or do Y in the app, I would totally rethink my structure.

For all you sports nerds out there, it would be similar to me coaching an American Football team and using a base 4-3 defense — but switching to a 3-4 defense the next year because I simply like how aggressive/illusive the scheme is. I became attracted to the shiny lights.

However as I listened to that aforementioned podcast, I just simply found myself saying, "Neat." I didn't get derailed. I simply acknowledged that's how they use it, and moved on.

Now I'm not saying that what I do is concrete, the base definitely is. Going back to the sports analogy, I've become content and determined to keep my defensive scheme and strategy. But if I were to tinker, it would only be to solve a potential problem or to better implement my strategy.

So over the next couple weeks, I plan to outline some of my strategy with that I've come to love and accept in OmniFocus. It has been something that I've been wanting to write about it for quite some time, but I always had this underlying fear that I would tinker with the strategy and completely contradict what I wrote.

However I'm pretty convinced that I've found my niche.

As for the reason of writing this? It's not for the sake of convincing anyone that I've unlocked something magical that everybody should adopt. In no way shape or form do I believe that I, nor any other person, have the "correct" strategy for managing how you tackle tasks and projects. Writing and posting my tactics serve more as a log for myself.

Some may find it useful. Some may disagree. Some just might say to themselves, "Neat."

More to come...

✦