Using OmniFocus for travel-related information

The Blog

by Linda Sharps on July 22, 2009

I'm heading to Chicago for the BlogHer conference tomorrow, and as part of my last-minute preparations (which include charging an embarrassing number of electronic devices, because god forbid I become digitally detached for ONE HOT SECOND; also, packing several candy bars because 1) calories totally don't count when consumed during travel and 2) humans taste terrible, which is why if you crash in the mountains and are forced to consume the flesh of your fellow passengers, it's best to have a Snickers on hand for a nice palate-cleansing dessert), I've entered my travel-related information into OmniFocus.

My plan is to have a well-organized list of helpful information that I can access via my iPhone while I'm on the road and at the actual event. I started by creating a folder in my project list titled “BlogHer”, and then creating a few relevant projects.

In each project I entered the individual pieces of information I wanted to have on hand, like flight times, conference panels, sightseeing locations, and evening events. I put all associated data in the notes sections: panel descriptions, flight confirmation numbers, addresses, and so on.

Then I assigned contexts to everything, with one parent context called “BlogHer”, and sub-contexts titled “Travel” (where all my car service/flight/hotel information went), “Exploring” (the sightseeing stuff), “Agenda” (all the conference panels), and “Parties” (evening events and their locations).

I synched everything to my phone and it all looks like I expected, which is always a good thing. I can select the “BlogHer” context to view all those sub-contexts . . .

. . . and click on one to have the exact information I need, wherever I am.

This all seems pretty handy, but I can't help wondering if there's a better way to organize all this stuff. Those of you who have used OmniFocus while traveling, how do YOU set up your document? Any tips for making this even more useful?

Comments

I use OF on Mac and iPhone for lots and lots, but not this. I have iCal subscribed to my TripIt calendar, and I supplement that with my own @airport and @taxi appointments. Other possible plans may go into OF, but anything actually on the agenda goes in the calendar.

Dan S

07.22.09 7:31 AM

Well, I wouldn't use OmniFocus for that kind of information in the first place, I would resort to an app like Evernote…

OF is for my inventory of commitments, Evernote for project support.

Jeppe K

07.22.09 7:44 AM

Could you have set your contexts based more on where things were happening and attach a location to them so you could instantly get a map to help you find your way?

Darcy Reynard

07.22.09 7:51 AM

I used OmniFocus to plan an insane vacation in NYC. Sights, shopping errands, presents, everything in OF. At first it felt like becoming some sort of control freak, planning a vacation with some software. But when you keep in mind that it's just for orientation and not a strict map or to do list, it works wonders. 18 days of fun, and I didn't forget a thing, thanks to OF and iCal. Yes, I didn't forget to send cheesy postcards, I simply decided not to! :p

Flint Stelter

07.22.09 8:43 AM

I don't see the logic of duplicating your project structure in contexts.

Henry Maddocks

07.22.09 12:29 PM

Henry: you're totally right. I was thinking I'd have a different project structure, but it ended up being pretty redundant. I've since tweaked this a bit (and added more info) so the contexts are actually useful on their own, instead of being a repeat of the projects.

Linda

07.22.09 2:58 PM

Good post. I hadn't thought of using OF in this way. Actually it made me think of how I do travel. I've opted for dedicated iPhone apps like Evernote (like Jeppe K), Packing and Trips (for itinerary planning).

But I still use OF for overall task management and planning for travel.

Lee

07.23.09 1:06 AM

I really wish you would change the masthead of OmniMouth. It really is quite annoying, portraying rude behavior.

Peter

07.23.09 3:06 AM

It looks like a duplication of Calendar functionality but in a manual fashion and without notifications. I fail to see a value of that.

I am just learning to use OF but I would definitely not expect to use it that way.

It would also be awesome to have a tighter integration between OF and iCal instead of the existing feature of exporting to iCal.

Sherali Karimov

07.24.09 6:00 AM

Linda, certainly an interesting use of OF, but like Dan and Sherali, I prefer to treat all my travel events as calendar entries. I use iCal on my Mac synced via Plaxo to Outlook on my Windows (employer-provided) machine. Since I have my iPhone calendar synced to Outlook, all the appointments are there and their alarms go off at my selected warning times. I prefer real separation of the calendar as a guide to timed activities as opposed to tasks and projects which make it to the calendar only if I set aside a time to work on them or record them for time tracking after I spend the time.

Lee Herman

07.29.09 11:46 AM

I make projects for (mostly business) trips and add the travel information, maps, etc. as attachment (usually webarchives or pdf files). I wouldn't want to waste the time to enter every bit of info so often.

I also have a folder with all the travel info (flight/train schedules, maps, etc.). That makes much more sense than whipping out your computer each time.

Max

07.29.09 7:32 PM

Actually, Linda, I was just thinking about how I wish I could have an OmniOutliner document that synced to my .Mac account and was editable on my iPhone just like OmniFocus. Like a few others have noted, I don't want to encumber OF with this kind of information, but the current range of notes applications for the iPhone are kind of thin. The default Notes app looks like crap, can't be searched, isn't lockable, and syncs to a dumb place. (Whose bright idea was it to turn Mail into a grab bag app?) SimpleNote is nice, but I don't want to sync to yet another web account and it offers no hierarchies. Notebooks is really nice, including a choice of fonts, and has everything a person could want except the clumsiest of syncing setups. (Yay for being egalitarian and using something that Windows users can also use, but boo for not making it bonehead-simple and syncable when not near one's computer.) I like gNote so far the best: it syncs to a web account I already own and use and it allows for hierarchives. It just ain't as easy, flexible, and local as OmniOutliner.

So, my request is either a way to sync between an OO document and Google Notebook, which is no longer in development, I know. Or give us an OmniNote app that syncs like OF but isn't. If one just chose an OO document to sync, that would be okay with me.

John Laudun

08.14.09 3:03 AM

I agree with John's comment above. Omnifocus syncing is pretty much the gold standard for computer-iphone program syncing. I'll occasionally use evernote, but text notes aren't really as useful to me as an outliner. I've been using outline files to hold the data for each of my guitar students (I use circus ponies notebook for that), but would switch in a second if omnigroup developed omnioutliner for iphone with mobilme syncing.

Daniel Page

08.15.09 10:21 AM

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