Grocery lists can be handled in several ways with OmniFocus. As with most projects, we need to be able to:
- Enter a list easily.
- Access that list easily.
Set Up a “Grocery” Project
Since the iPhone tends to be the hardware of choice while walking about the aisles, I’ll present its creation and use with it.
My own setup is as follows:
- Go to the Projects Perspective
- Select the + icon in the top right:
Select the plus icon in the top right to create a new project.
- Select New Project:
Select “New Project”
- Type the name of the project. Here “Groceries”.
- Optionally, select the type as Single Actions.
- Add the context of whatever grocery store you tend to use.
Groceries project settings
Set up Store’s Location Reminder
Consider if you would like to set the location of the store’s context so you’ll receive an alert when you’re nearby the store. Personally, I do not do this, preferring instead to make deliberate arrangements, but I know those who do. To do so,
- Go to the context itself.
- Select Location.
Location settings
- Choose a method by which you wish to assign a location. Here I’ve used Search.
- Choose the arrival icon for notification.
- Choose a Distance from the store. Since I live and wander the city by foot, I’ve chosen the smallest diameter:
Create alert settings based on distance and arrival.
When you want to add items:
- Go to the new project.
- Select the + in a circle at the top right.
Use the + in a circle to create a new task with default context in the project.
- Add your grocery item.
- Select Save + at the top to continue adding items:
Use “Save +” to continue adding tasks to the list.
Regular items
Consider if any individual items are regularly purchased. If you are creating or have a weekly habit to visit the grocery store, you can set a Repeat function so the item appears again. Here, I’ve set my onions purchase to Repeat Every Saturday. If you use “Repeat Every”, be sure to set an initial Defer Date. Otherwise, OmniFocus will just add a due date when you’ve marked it complete instead of hiding the task until next week:
Settings for repeating grocery items.
Create a Grocery Perspective
To make the list easily accessible, consider creating a perspective dedicated to the Groceries context. To do so,
- Go to the home screen (press and hold the navigation prompt in the top left, here “< Projects”):
Press and hold back navigation at any screen to go to the home screen.
- Swipe down to expose the Settings and Perspective options.
- Select the New Perspective button at the left:
Create a new perspective.
- Type in a name for the Perspective, here “Groceries”.
- Optionally, choose “Use project hierarchy”.
- Set the “Filter by availability” to “Available”.
- Set the Focus to the new project, “Groceries”:
Grocery Perspective Settings
- Select “Save” at the top right.
Set Grocery Perspective in Home Screen
To set the location of the perspective in your home screen:
- Press and hold the perspective name until it displays it is ready for movement.
- Drag and drop it to where you would like it.
Setting the grocery perspective on the home screen
Create a Grocery Store Routine
If you wish to create a regular routine of visiting the grocery store, consider creating a repeating task to visit the store. We can also add a link to the Grocery perspective in the task.
The note field carries a link to the Groceries perspective. Simply select the link to use it.
Grocery routine task settings
(As a side note, grocery tasks are a rare exception to always starting tasks with an action verb.)
