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Creating Flow with OmniFocus
- Grasp basic through advanced concepts of OmniFocus through real examples, unlike a manual.
- Learn how to build a trusted system and get things off your mind.
- Learn to take control of OmniFocus at a much deeper level by mastering perspectives.
- Learn to build custom perspectives that work for you.
- Use the strength of OmniFocus to get through daily responsibilities to get to the things you want to do.
- Build a core system to manage responsibilities and tasks easily.
- Gain mastery and integrate maintenance tasks, new tasks of the day, as well as larger projects. The systematized and organized method frees the capacity to think creatively and more freely on a task at hand.
- Have daily tasks and year long projects rest easily side by side. Be able to advance feeling both in control and motivated.
- Discover several solutions for procrastination and scattered or bogged-down states of mind.
- Learn how to build a trusted system and get things off your mind.
- Learn to take control of OmniFocus at a much deeper level by mastering perspectives.
- Learn to build custom perspectives that work for you.
- Use the strength of OmniFocus to get through daily responsibilities to get to the things you want to do.
- Build a core system to manage responsibilities and tasks easily.
- Gain mastery and integrate maintenance tasks, new tasks of the day, as well as larger projects. The systematized and organized method frees the capacity to think creatively and more freely on a task at hand.
- Have daily tasks and year long projects rest easily side by side. Be able to advance feeling both in control and motivated.
- Discover several solutions for procrastination and scattered or bogged-down states of mind.
551 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2009
37 people are currently reading
406 people want to read
About the author
Kourosh Dini
7 books44 followersWritings
Kourosh Dini is the author of Creating Flow with OmniFocus: Mastering Productivity. As he is known to do many things, Kourosh has needed a tool and method by which he could wrangle it all. The book describes this process of wrangling in hopes that others will find such wranglings useful, too.
He has written Workflow Mastery: Building from the Basics which combines his thoughts on psychoanalysis, creativity, efficiency, and most importantly what it takes to develop mastery and meaningful work. The first edition, Workflow: Beyond Productivity, has won an eLit bronze medal in educational ebooks and a Quality, Excellence, Design Award.
He is also the author of Video Game Play and Addiction: A Guide for Parents, which helps parents navigate the benefits and potential detriments of video games and virtual spaces. The book has won a Mom’s Choice Award and a National Parenting Publication Award.
Education
Academics include Northwestern University as a part of the Integrated Science Program with a focus in the neurosciences. His medical degree and residency in adult psychiatry were obtained through the University of Illinois at Chicago. He pursued further studies in child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Chicago. Kourosh also practices psychoanalysis having graduated from the Institute for Psychoanalysis, and maintains a private practice in Chicago involving therapy, meditation, and medication management.
Music
He has also played the piano since an early age, plays a synthesizer, pretends to play guitar, and whistles, usually in a garage or some other place with good resonance. He performs music weekly and has periodically spoken about meditation as Kourosh Eusebio in the virtual world of Second Life.
His blog, Musings on Mind, Music, and Technology, reflects his thoughts of this unique intersection as he continues a path of discovering mind and artistry through these media.
Kourosh Dini is the author of Creating Flow with OmniFocus: Mastering Productivity. As he is known to do many things, Kourosh has needed a tool and method by which he could wrangle it all. The book describes this process of wrangling in hopes that others will find such wranglings useful, too.
He has written Workflow Mastery: Building from the Basics which combines his thoughts on psychoanalysis, creativity, efficiency, and most importantly what it takes to develop mastery and meaningful work. The first edition, Workflow: Beyond Productivity, has won an eLit bronze medal in educational ebooks and a Quality, Excellence, Design Award.
He is also the author of Video Game Play and Addiction: A Guide for Parents, which helps parents navigate the benefits and potential detriments of video games and virtual spaces. The book has won a Mom’s Choice Award and a National Parenting Publication Award.
Education
Academics include Northwestern University as a part of the Integrated Science Program with a focus in the neurosciences. His medical degree and residency in adult psychiatry were obtained through the University of Illinois at Chicago. He pursued further studies in child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Chicago. Kourosh also practices psychoanalysis having graduated from the Institute for Psychoanalysis, and maintains a private practice in Chicago involving therapy, meditation, and medication management.
Music
He has also played the piano since an early age, plays a synthesizer, pretends to play guitar, and whistles, usually in a garage or some other place with good resonance. He performs music weekly and has periodically spoken about meditation as Kourosh Eusebio in the virtual world of Second Life.
His blog, Musings on Mind, Music, and Technology, reflects his thoughts of this unique intersection as he continues a path of discovering mind and artistry through these media.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 17, 2011
Amazingly precious and written for the very tightly wound todo-list making individual. The level of detail that he goes into on how to make a template project for leaving the house, for example, borders on the absurd. But. He makes good points on how to setup tasks like this in order to get yourself out of a rut of deciding how to go about accomplishing a daunting project. The book goes into a somewhat therapeutic angle towards the end with regards to how to maximize your time on earth to do what you want to be doing and to make the world a better place. Maybe not that last point.
If you can make it through this book and you use OmniFocus, it is well worth your time. The biggest benefit I got was in the last 5th or so of the book when he talks about using Core perspectives. Using his "Flagged Core" perspective, I've been able to get the thing I miss most about Things--the Today list--back and better than ever.
If you can make it through this book and you use OmniFocus, it is well worth your time. The biggest benefit I got was in the last 5th or so of the book when he talks about using Core perspectives. Using his "Flagged Core" perspective, I've been able to get the thing I miss most about Things--the Today list--back and better than ever.
August 16, 2012
This book has been pretty massive for me.
I bought OmniFocus over a year ago and struggled with it based on David Sparks' excellent screencasts [Link]. For some reason, it just never integrated its way into my life, other than to give me weekly reminders to put the kids' pocket money into their piggy banks.
I know that I need something in my life to help me deal with my stuff, and I knew that OmniFocus was more than capable of doing that. I just found it so overwhelming!
I listened to the author talking to David Sparks on an episode of Mac Power Users [Episode 78], which is when I learned that he'd written a book about how he used OmniFocus. My interest was piqued once again.
So, I watched DSparks' screencasts again and then bought Kourosh's book. A few of my Twitter contacts had read it and recommended it, so I knew it was worth my while.
Observations
Firstly, I must say that the application is so feature rich and flexible that teaching someone how to use it is no easy task. All one can really do is explain how they use it and hope that that helps.
Kourosh certainly has a system in place for working this app!
His background as a psychiatrist undoubtely gives him knowledge of the human brain that can be applied to OmniFocus. And he does do that, with explanations of procrastination and why we do it, that sort of thing.
Templates
The explanation of template projects was executed flawlessly and highlights the power of OmniFocus in a way that I would never have imagined. So much is covered in that one section of the book: sequential vs parallel projects, putting projects on-hold, grouping tasks, keyboard shortcuts. In short, I found this to be the most valuable section of the book.
Perspectives
This section was difficult to take in, particularly the core perspectives section. I don't know if it's just me, but I read the descriptions of setting up the core flagged and core start-date perspectives twice and I'm still not sure that I get it. Giving options is probably useful for a lot of people, but I found it confusing. I'd rather he'd just said 'here's what I do now' and explained that, rather than going through how he got there. Now I've got two core perspectives, neither of which I really understand, so I will undoubtedly have to read this section again.
That said, I knew as soon as I started reading those parts that I'd need to come back to them. It is my intention to use the app for a month or so, see how I can tweak it when I understand it better and then come back to those sections in the book again.
The tickler and due perspectives in particular are ones I'm having trouble understanding. Where the tickler is concerned, I don't think it was explained very well at all. I think I understand it, I'm just not sure how to set it up.
And the Running Projects was also troublesome. Is it actually called that, or is it called 30k feet? There was some inconsistency in the book and it is that that had me feeling confused.
Pomodoros
This was a fascination section and one which I will need to consider. Of course the danger here is the rabbit holes. Maybe I could devote a 25-minute pomodoro to investigation the rabbit holes and learning bits here and pieces there about how to tweak my project managing!
Conclusion
As a reference book, this will be invaluable to me as I learn the app. It is jam-packed with information and the short-cut keys were repeated over and over, which I found very helpful. The appendices contain yet more useful info, so just when you think you're nearly done, there's more!
But I feel that some things could have been explained a little more clearly, i.e. the instances mentioned above. That is why I gave it 3 stars.
And my final gripe? Please stop writing GTD with the registered trademark symbol. It's extremely distracting. Sure, do it the first time, but after that, we already KNOW.
Grrrrrr.
Now I get Merlin Mann's funny little 'davidco 2001' thing.
I bought OmniFocus over a year ago and struggled with it based on David Sparks' excellent screencasts [Link]. For some reason, it just never integrated its way into my life, other than to give me weekly reminders to put the kids' pocket money into their piggy banks.
I know that I need something in my life to help me deal with my stuff, and I knew that OmniFocus was more than capable of doing that. I just found it so overwhelming!
I listened to the author talking to David Sparks on an episode of Mac Power Users [Episode 78], which is when I learned that he'd written a book about how he used OmniFocus. My interest was piqued once again.
So, I watched DSparks' screencasts again and then bought Kourosh's book. A few of my Twitter contacts had read it and recommended it, so I knew it was worth my while.
Observations
Firstly, I must say that the application is so feature rich and flexible that teaching someone how to use it is no easy task. All one can really do is explain how they use it and hope that that helps.
Kourosh certainly has a system in place for working this app!
His background as a psychiatrist undoubtely gives him knowledge of the human brain that can be applied to OmniFocus. And he does do that, with explanations of procrastination and why we do it, that sort of thing.
Templates
The explanation of template projects was executed flawlessly and highlights the power of OmniFocus in a way that I would never have imagined. So much is covered in that one section of the book: sequential vs parallel projects, putting projects on-hold, grouping tasks, keyboard shortcuts. In short, I found this to be the most valuable section of the book.
Perspectives
This section was difficult to take in, particularly the core perspectives section. I don't know if it's just me, but I read the descriptions of setting up the core flagged and core start-date perspectives twice and I'm still not sure that I get it. Giving options is probably useful for a lot of people, but I found it confusing. I'd rather he'd just said 'here's what I do now' and explained that, rather than going through how he got there. Now I've got two core perspectives, neither of which I really understand, so I will undoubtedly have to read this section again.
That said, I knew as soon as I started reading those parts that I'd need to come back to them. It is my intention to use the app for a month or so, see how I can tweak it when I understand it better and then come back to those sections in the book again.
The tickler and due perspectives in particular are ones I'm having trouble understanding. Where the tickler is concerned, I don't think it was explained very well at all. I think I understand it, I'm just not sure how to set it up.
And the Running Projects was also troublesome. Is it actually called that, or is it called 30k feet? There was some inconsistency in the book and it is that that had me feeling confused.
Pomodoros
This was a fascination section and one which I will need to consider. Of course the danger here is the rabbit holes. Maybe I could devote a 25-minute pomodoro to investigation the rabbit holes and learning bits here and pieces there about how to tweak my project managing!
Conclusion
As a reference book, this will be invaluable to me as I learn the app. It is jam-packed with information and the short-cut keys were repeated over and over, which I found very helpful. The appendices contain yet more useful info, so just when you think you're nearly done, there's more!
But I feel that some things could have been explained a little more clearly, i.e. the instances mentioned above. That is why I gave it 3 stars.
And my final gripe? Please stop writing GTD with the registered trademark symbol. It's extremely distracting. Sure, do it the first time, but after that, we already KNOW.
Grrrrrr.
Now I get Merlin Mann's funny little 'davidco 2001' thing.
June 5, 2016
This is a textbook for those who've read GTD and would like to specifically use Omnifocus. It's a fantastic reference tool that you'll come back to because taking on all the processes and setup explained is a little much for a first-timer.
So if you'd like something between GTD and the software manual with lots of great advice this is a good choice.
So if you'd like something between GTD and the software manual with lots of great advice this is a good choice.
Read
April 11, 2012Good but grossly overpriced.
September 29, 2012
Some good ideas and interesting takes on organizing with GTD and OmniFocus. Makes you think about how to better utilize your system.
With some editing improvements, I'd give it four stars. Would benefit from a wider variety of examples; "Make chocolate chip cookies" does not cover it for many of the situations. Writing needs rewording in many spots. Rewrite and find clearer way to present the "Core" principles. Cut out all the white space; it's not really anywhere near 500+ pages. For this price (high for a book, particularly for an ebook-only one) I expect higher quality.
With some editing improvements, I'd give it four stars. Would benefit from a wider variety of examples; "Make chocolate chip cookies" does not cover it for many of the situations. Writing needs rewording in many spots. Rewrite and find clearer way to present the "Core" principles. Cut out all the white space; it's not really anywhere near 500+ pages. For this price (high for a book, particularly for an ebook-only one) I expect higher quality.
December 28, 2015
This is one of those books that changes your life. It certainly changed mine. It took me so long to read it because you have to keep putting it down to implement each of the teachings of the author. It's very practical advice. It's like having a personal teacher help you learn OmniFocus.
You will finish this book feeling like a master of OmniFocus.
Until the next version comes out that is. Then we'll both be reading the 3rd edition of this book!
You will finish this book feeling like a master of OmniFocus.
Until the next version comes out that is. Then we'll both be reading the 3rd edition of this book!
November 11, 2013
If you want to get the most out of the app and are willing to put in the time and effort to do so, then you owe it to yourself to pick up this book. It’s simply amazing.
January 8, 2018
After all I've read on Omnifocus and GTD on the web, I thought I knew all there was to it. I am happy to report that I was wrong.
Kourosh Dini has obviously thought really long and hard about the best way to implement lots of different strategies in Omnifocus. He mixes his approaches with a deep understanding of why and how we sometimes unconsciously sabotage ourselves. His workflows are very empathetic and put the human at the center. It is a refreshing blend of control-freak-obsession and listening to your emotions.
Kourosh Dini has obviously thought really long and hard about the best way to implement lots of different strategies in Omnifocus. He mixes his approaches with a deep understanding of why and how we sometimes unconsciously sabotage ourselves. His workflows are very empathetic and put the human at the center. It is a refreshing blend of control-freak-obsession and listening to your emotions.
May 16, 2019
Amazing. Not only is Kourosh's advice sound, his training as a psychiatrist helps him explain things through the lens of the human mind, so things make more sense. His writing style is great, and he takes a scientific approach to breaking down exactly how to incorporate OmniFocus into your life. It also has tons of recommendations for external apps to pair with OmniFocus that make things even smoother. I have become attached to OmniFocus after reading this book, and I am so happy I have! Would highly recommend if you are in need of a good task management tool and an interesting read.
December 17, 2018
Wow, what a detailed book. A good primer on creating productivity systems (and why it's worth the effort) combined with a solid how-to use OmniFocus. A few times I got lost in the weeds trying to understand the more complex systems, but overall the combination of nuts and bolts how-to and the author's psychology background was really helpful as I set out to establish a productivity system that works for me.
February 10, 2018
Mixed feelings on this one. In some ways it's basically a manual for this task management app, which, well, if you know me, you know that it is both exceedingly nerdy and unsurprising that I'd choose to read this. It gets into some extremely interesting 'why's and 'how's and gnitty gritty details of task management and workflow, and.... it just gets to be a little bit too much even for me.
December 18, 2017
Honestly, I was hoping something with deeper knowledge than those examples — lot of repeat of the manual, or obvious remarks. Very disappointing !
October 28, 2021
Very helpful if you want to get deep into OmniFocus. This was my second time through, but in the end I find his system requires too much maintenance for the way I think/process work.
March 12, 2017
Quite an unusual reading for me but I was very interested into practicing and improving "Flow" after reading Csikszentmihaly's books and it is definitely worth the time and practice because using Omnifocus to structure your flow capability development is working very well.
September 11, 2016
Great book. I liked theoretical part most because the UI details are deprecated. But they are important too to learn that everything could be accessed via keyboard shortcuts and it’s not hard to figure out how to do the same on a new versions of OmniFocus.
To get the most value read the book when you read GTD already and tried to use OmniFocus for a while. In this case you will have a bunch of questions and pains and likely you’ll find the answers and cures in this book.
I’m planning to rewind back to Core perspective descriptions and recreate it in my system.
4 starts because UI instructions are outdated. But it’s barely reduces book’s value.
To get the most value read the book when you read GTD already and tried to use OmniFocus for a while. In this case you will have a bunch of questions and pains and likely you’ll find the answers and cures in this book.
I’m planning to rewind back to Core perspective descriptions and recreate it in my system.
4 starts because UI instructions are outdated. But it’s barely reduces book’s value.
April 1, 2012
An amazing guide to how to use OmniFocus. Perfect for after you have read David Allen's 'Getting Things Done' and would like to apply those methods in a sound way.
This book introduces you to the application, and slowly builds up your abilities until you feel comfortable and ready to 'create flow'. Through use of some very clever perspectives, the author imbues the reader with master level skills and relates it all to everyday life. His background as a psychiatrist really proves useful in how he relates GTD to the mind.
An absolute must read if you want to, or do use OmniFocus.
This book introduces you to the application, and slowly builds up your abilities until you feel comfortable and ready to 'create flow'. Through use of some very clever perspectives, the author imbues the reader with master level skills and relates it all to everyday life. His background as a psychiatrist really proves useful in how he relates GTD to the mind.
An absolute must read if you want to, or do use OmniFocus.
November 29, 2016
Loved this book, it totally helped jump-start my re-engagement with omnifocus and taking a more systematic approach to being effective, productive. The first part was all pragmatic, the detailed tools for building a system...then followed by more theoretical aspects that "gelled" the practices for me.
Now working thru Zen & the Art of Work series, probably to take me thru end of year, then planning to tackle the somewhat more abstract Workflow Mastery.
Now working thru Zen & the Art of Work series, probably to take me thru end of year, then planning to tackle the somewhat more abstract Workflow Mastery.
November 30, 2015
Whew, this took a while to finish up (highly technical) but was well worth the investment. OmniFocus is an amazing piece of software, and had made task management a real afterthought in my life. I feel much more free and less scatter-brained. Dini does a good job explaining the software, as it's quite clear he is an expert at it. Thanks Kourosh, you're a pretty cool dude.
February 2, 2017
Learning a new complex task management tool involves not only learning the features and quirks of the app but also the workflow and methodology, both of which are covered in great detail here. The concept of meta-tasks and framing procrastination as a state to evaluate roadblocks are great takeaways.
August 26, 2011
If you use OmniFocus and follow the GTD methodology you must read this book. Period.
July 6, 2013
I love the idea of using omnifocus properly but the reality is that I will never take the time to do it. Lots of overhead.
July 24, 2013
Excellent manual for the use of OmniFocus. Really beneficial if you are interested in learning how to fully utilize the features offered by OmniFocus.
Want to read
August 4, 2014After being an OmniFocus user for like...a million years, it's probably about time that I taught Kourash Dini a few things about using OmniFocus.
June 6, 2014
A life-changing view on living.
Read
May 18, 2015No idea when I finished reading it, but I definitely did at some point!
May 1, 2017
I've used all the digital tools for implmenting the "Getting Things Done (GTD)" methodology--Todoist, Nozbe, Evernote, etc.--and all can do the job. When I came upon Omnifocus, I found a tool that seemed to be closer to the core of GTD methodology than others. I downloaded the trial version and started to get to work. The problem I ran into is that it's a simple program that has an incredible level of complexity. That is, to truly implement *your* version of GTD you need to get very comfortable with all of the features of Omnifocus quickly, before you lose steam and abandon the whole lot.
That's where Kourosh Dini comes in. His book, "Creating Flow with Omnifocus," takes you through all of the nitty-gritty of setting up projects, contexts, and perspectives in Omnifocus in a way that works for you.
It's a long book ... that is, you get a lot for your money. It's not a set of Powerpoint(tm) slides, and it's not a feel-good book that gets you an inch deep into the program.
Instead, the author walks you through the program's features in a way that's technical and productive; as you follow his step-by-step instructions, you end up with a fully-configured version of Omnifocus that lets you use the program to start and end each day with a view towards the maximum amount of productivity you can accomplish.
This is not a 99-cent book; it's expensive. Whenever I come across a book like this, I have to wonder if it will truly save time and pay for itself.
Kourosh Dini has written a book that makes that argument: you will truly save time and money implementing his principles and practices, and you will end up with a personalized system that produces a calm. clear, state of mind.
That's where Kourosh Dini comes in. His book, "Creating Flow with Omnifocus," takes you through all of the nitty-gritty of setting up projects, contexts, and perspectives in Omnifocus in a way that works for you.
It's a long book ... that is, you get a lot for your money. It's not a set of Powerpoint(tm) slides, and it's not a feel-good book that gets you an inch deep into the program.
Instead, the author walks you through the program's features in a way that's technical and productive; as you follow his step-by-step instructions, you end up with a fully-configured version of Omnifocus that lets you use the program to start and end each day with a view towards the maximum amount of productivity you can accomplish.
This is not a 99-cent book; it's expensive. Whenever I come across a book like this, I have to wonder if it will truly save time and pay for itself.
Kourosh Dini has written a book that makes that argument: you will truly save time and money implementing his principles and practices, and you will end up with a personalized system that produces a calm. clear, state of mind.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews