If I ever need to list anything I turn to my favourite software OmniOutliner Pro.
The screenshot here shows the beginnings of a list of sections of a Help File I’ve been writing. The main topic: RFOs section has several subtopics, each of which has its own subtopics.
I drag and drop the lines or sections into their correct place in the outline, check the checkboxes for completed items, and can easily open or close the disclosure triangles to see just the information I require.
Not shown in the screenshot is that I can ‘hoist’ a topic to make it the focus of my attention, temporarily hiding irrelevant topics.
That’s a simple list, but one feature of OmniOutliner that I love is its flexibility. I use the Pro version so I have access to its full power. That allows the hoisting, customised styles for text and numbers, hiding text and other useful features.
If I want a quick and easy tally for numbers I use OmniOutliner rather than a spreadsheet. The screenshot here shows some fictitious financial data. I have some ‘main’ topics such as Business, Personal and Investments. Business is split down into two subtopics: Banks and Tax.
Each topic lists income or debt such as Bank 1, Bank 2 and an amount of money for each row.
I’ve asked OmniOutliner to keep a tally of the totals in that column, so it adds the dollar amounts for each row under Banks, for example, or Taxes and gives me a grand total for each main topic. As with a spreadsheet, as soon as I adjust one figure the total automatically updates. This provides a very handy rough and ready snapshot of my financial position.
I’m hopeless at keeping a diary or journal, but I did try for a while. Again OmniOutliner was my software of choice. This file: 2008.oo3template.zip (9Kb) lists every day of 2008, by month, and numbered. I’d select the correct date and add indented rows for the activities I was tracking.
If you do engage with OmniOutliner then be sure to check out all the Applescripts available for it. It’s highly scriptable, adding tremendously to its usefulness.
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