Update 07/19: Now with OmniFocus task notes
Update 07/20: Fixed unintentionally re-used task note
I shared my Rapid Log Shortcut for Agenda the other day, and it serves its purpose, but I am an OmniFocus user, and so really, my rapid logged tasks need to land there. As such, I have been fine-tuning my Shortcut for use with it, and with some bonus features.
I won't rehash too much about what I already posted, but this Shortcut:
- Asks for input
- Takes input, line by line, and appends it to a Daily Agenda Log
- If the line of input starts with
-
(a dash and a space):- The appended line in Agenda becomes a checklist item instead of a bullet
- A task is created in the OmniFocus inbox with that line's name
- That appended Agenda line is linked to the task created in the OmniFocus
Here's what is bonus cool, though:
- The task is created in OmniFocus using TaskPaper addition
- This means your task could include something like
@due(tom)
to show that it is due tomorrow, and the OmniFocus task created will honour it - ... but that content is stripped from the text appended to Agenda for elegance
@flagged
is the exception, because if that is added, the Agenda line will be prefaced with a 🔶 to indicate the flagged state
- This means your task could include something like
- You can include tags inline as
#tag1
and#tag2
(no spaces), and they will be honoured by OmniFocus- The Shortcut parses those in to TaskPaper format
@tags(tag1, tag2)
accordingly - You can write tags inline in TaskPaper format too, of course
- None of that content is in the Agenda line appended (again, elegance)
- The Shortcut parses those in to TaskPaper format
- You can also include
+(Project Name)
inline- This will become the project to which the task is added (instead of the Inbox)
- This is a search of Projects in OmniFocus, and the first match returned, so use clever keywords
- Spaces are allowed for multi-word names/searches
- The use of a
+
here is a nod to todo.txt, which used+
as the signifier for projects- In case anyone cared?
- Still, elegance
- Lastly, you can use
//
as a notes delimiter (that's a space, two slashes, and a space)- Everything after that delimiter will be added to the notes field of OmniFocus
- This content will be ignored in Agenda (assumed that this is in service of noting the task, not the journal)
Read about TaskPaper notation you can include →
There is no enforced order here, so one could totally thoughtstream the entry (which I do). For example:
- Call Marie about the budget #Urgent @flagged +(budget presentation) @due(fri) #Calls // The budget presentation is on our shared folder
Metadata does not need to be entered in a particular order.
I find that by rapid logging this way, I capture my commitments in OmniFocus, but I also diary that capture in Agenda, and also give myself the freedom to capture non-actionable things I have discovered or know.
I'd love to hear what you think!