GTD FAIL

In an effort to organize my life and increase productivity, I've been trying to adopt some GTD conventions. GTD == "getting things done", and there are many tried and true methods being talked about all over the interwebs. I've long known that I can get pretty disorganized, distracted, etc, and this cuts into my work, how people see me, and what I can accomplish. My first step was to start organizing my notes. Second was to purge my RSS reader of all the feeds I didn't absolutely need. I started wearing a watch. Then, the iPhone app store launched, and with it, OmniFocus. OmniFocus is touted as "professional grade" personal task-management software (straight from the product page on their website). The Omni Group has developed this software to help people organize their lives, and make doing so as transparent and painless as possible. This seemed like a great tool, and the iPhone version of the app could live on one of the things I always carry with me. Match made in heaven. So I bought and downloaded the app and started throwing tasks and lists at it. I liked how I could create contexts as well as projects, and just dump my todo thought-stream into the inbox to come back to and organize later. I liked how i was notified of upcoming, and overdue items and projects. I liked how I could sit on the train on the way to work and get all my ducks in their respective rows. And then, I saw that an update was available in the App Store. Naturally, updates should fix bugs, add features, etc... so I updated. Launched the app. And I was confronted with a dialogue saying that OmniFocus did not detect a database, and I could either create a new database, or sync with a computer... I didn't sync OmniFocus on the iPhone with OmniFocus on the laptop because I don't have the desktop software (why would I pay another ~ $100 on top of the just to have a desktop version, when I only needed the mobile?). So I opted to create a database, completely resetting OmniFocus. FUCK THAT SHIT. I suppose it's my own fault in some way... but I think there was no way to update the software and keep my existing data. There was no option to back-up, export, etc before updating the app... There was no warning that the update would reset the database. And now the productivity app is anti-productivity. FAIL [UPDATE] The folks over at OmniGroup have been great in addressing my concerns, offering advice, and accepting ideas I have to [hopefully] improve or otherwise augment the OmniFocus experience. Much respect. This issue is in large part a problem with iTunes and the iPhone app environment, and addressing these issues in any depth will require at least an additional post... stay tuned.