gMail now has a Task List

[CSGiles]

Just FYI. The folks at Google have added an integrated Task Management program to gMail (it's in Labs, go there and click on it to enable).

It's a basic sort of thing. No categories, but you can have as many Lists as you want, so you can have a list for @Calls, @Office, etc. It is very easy to make an email a Task and you can indent items for a outline-like list. Also, each task has a Notes field that you can use to hold data, next steps, etc.

Best wishes,
Scot Giles

[jesig]

Figures that they'd release this two days after I spend hours setting up a new paper system because I kept forgetting to check Remember The Milk... :) Thanks for the heads-up.

[sdann]

No kidding. I now how you feel. I had just purchased my new 2009 calendar and then they come out with the GTD version. Oh well, I'm slowly switching my calendar to electronic anyhow.

[moises]

I couldn't find it in Labs. Is it called Task Management?

[CSGiles]

It's just called Tasks. It's the first entry on the Labs page right now.

Best wishes,
Scot Giles

[TesTeq]

Is it The RTM Killer? Did anyone figure out the optimal GTD setup (contexts implementation)?

[mcogilvie]

Is it The RTM Killer? Did anyone figure out the optimal GTD setup (contexts implementation)?

IMHO, it seems rather feeble and uninviting. Of course, I feel that way about the UI of gmail and gcal, too, so YMMV. It seems to have some indentation system that might appeal to casual users.

[jrdouce]

IMHO, it seems rather feeble and uninviting. Of course, I feel that way about the UI of gmail and gcal, too, so YMMV. It seems to have some indentation system that might appeal to casual users.

I have to agree with mcogilvie. It's a small popup window that I haven't figured out how to display without selecting the "add to tasks" action for an email. It's not a full fledged application like Calendar, at least not yet. Give Google time - and feedback, they do seem to listen.

[GGG]

On the left side bar, just below the link called "Contacts," is one called "Tasks." Click that and the Task window will appear.
-George

[Andrew Whaley]

It seems like a nice little addition that could be just what a lot of people need. It has a category function, but doesn't call it that. Just click "New List" and make a new list for every category and name it. When you click the little icon that looks like a bullet list, it will show you all your lists at the bottom. I have started playing with it to hold my email list and online next actions. You can't print it, but if your phone has a browser it may work. I like to use tags, but if you want to make a todo re: a specific email, one of the nice things about gmail is that they give each email a specific url, so you can cut and past it into the body of a list item. Overall, not bad and may rock for the masses or people who live on their computer online and are over the productivity porn/latest tool addiction. No judgements, I'm still hooked.

[alizaki]

Google's added a whole lot of cool toys for us to enable in the Labs tab under Settings. The "Superstars" feature is great to: I can now categorize emails with different types of icons, not just the golden star.

[CSGiles]

Just an update on the Google gMail Tasks program. It can now be accessed from an iPhone. The task list on the mobile unit is automatically synced with the task list in gMail.

Now, all they need to do is add a feature that will allow one to transfer an item among different lists, and they'll have a really useful GTD tool.

The url is http://www.gmail.com/tasks

Scot Giles

[dharrington35]

I am using it along with the calender. I am trying to also use Google documents and skip MS office altogether. I am interested in hearing about other users experience


dennish-hellofromhouston.blogspot.com/

[CSGiles]

The Tasks program in GMail now will allow one to transfer a task from one list (or category) to another, and one can combine or split tasks.

With this change the GMail Tasks program really does look like something useful for GTD.

Scot Gles

[Mischka]

Thank you for updating us on GMail Tasks, Scot. I would love to use this feature as I have GMail for both my personal and business address. But I need them to implement at least two more things:

Mobile app w/ offline capability for the Blackberry platform
Integration w/ Google calendar


If you know that they have, please let me know! I also check on the Task forum weekly :).

Mike

[clango]

Thank you for updating us on GMail Tasks, Scot. I would love to use this feature as I have GMail for both my personal and business address.

Unfortunately only for the English version.... :(