Omnifocus Series:  Getting the Mind Clear (Part 1)

Omnifocus is a powerful tool for organizing your life, job search and other projects.  One of its most useful features for researchers and job hunters is the Quick Entry box.  This small yet powerful feature is what helps you to achieve effortless, effective and focused action.  The key is capturing everything so you miss nothing — fast, effectively and without thinking (too hard).

So…

Skim Email for Important Stuff in 60 Seconds Flat

With the powerful Quick Entry feature of Omnifocus (a pop up box that opens while you’re using any application) you can go through your email like a hawk and save only the email messages that either:

• a.  look important to do NOW
• b.  you want to read later
• c.  the just in case

Every other email stays there after you scan the headlines.  Heck, your email database is a storage box too.

Make sure you’ve got the Clip-O-Tron feature activated in Omnifocus and installed in Mail through the one click option in Omnifocus.

Or…

Capture Jobs from Your Browser – Safari Fast

If you’re on a Mac (and of course you are since you’re using Omnifocus) then you’ll likely be using Safari web browser.  Go to any job site and save jobs that interest you and that you want to apply for using the “clipping” feature of Omnifocus right into the pop up Quick Entry box.

Of course if you’re doing market research for example then you can also save more than just job descriptions.  Pictures, PDFs, Word documents, Office documents, spreadsheets and anything else you can think of can be clipped, saved, put into the Quick Entry box and dumped in the “Inbox”.

The key is no hassle.  Dump it and sort it out later.

The only time Quick Entry is slowed down is if you use Mozilla browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome.

If you’re a stickler to details you can assign your Entries right to Projects or assign “ways to get it done” (i.e. call, write, email, etc.) right in the Quick Entry box.  Handy if you want to save time.

And of course…

Save the Best for Later in Documents

You guessed it, Quick Entry means you can even capture information from inside Adobe PDFs, Word documents and spreadsheets.  Great for research and writing reports fast!

And when all else fails you can type write into the Quick Entry box or cut and paste what clipping can’t handle.  Great for those times you’re using web browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox.

Omnifocus’ clipping and Quick Entry box are useful because it allows you to capture ideas from outside and inside right into one little bowl without too much cutting, pasting and fidgeting.  Great for staying on top of emails, job search or just plain research.

Does your favourite task management program have Quick Entry or clipping ability?  Are there any new kids on the block that has better features? (I can think of one)  Is there a better way of capturing the best ideas and information from anywhere?

Via Sunny Lam and Empty Mind Principles (EMP)

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