Using Outlook

[RussReynolds]

Hello,

First post here. I listened to the GTD book in my car and it seemed like a good thing at the time but now I am finding that the devil is in the details.

I am wanting to set up lists on Outlook (I have downloaded and installed clear context). I want to set up the following lists:

@home
@phone
@email
@next actions
@waiting for
@projects
@someday maybe

First, am I missing any categories?

What is the best way to create the lists? Do I create them as categories in Tasks?

I need to sync with my windows mobile device if that helps.

Thanks,

Russ Reynolds

[tominperu]

@home, @phone and @email are all subcategories of next actions so you don't need @next actions as well.

The rest seems okay. Yes, I think these should all be categories in Tasks.

I myself have categories "Project: Wedding", "Project: Teaching" etc. deviding the projects into focus areas and without @ so they sit under my next actions Categories which all begin with @.

I also have someday/maybe in a subfolder within Tasks but this would not be suitable for you if this subfolder didn't sync with your windows mobile device.

[jknecht]

"List management" was tricky for me to get my head around when I first started. There were just so many options! After quite a bit of experimentation and false starts, here's what I settled on:

First, you should know that I use outlook and a windows mobile device. Also, I keep email out of my system altogether (I use Lotus Notes for email).

I don't have any add-ins for outlook. I use my mobile device as my primary interface for GTD; outlook is just for backups. The out-of-the-box windows mobile software was not so great to work with, so I purchased PocketInformant.

The calendar is fairly straightforward... appointments and all-day events go here.

Under "tasks", I have the following categories:
- @Agendas
- @Errands
- @Home
- @Internet
- @Phone
- @Waiting For
- @Work
- Projects: Business
- Projects: Personal
- Someday/Maybe: Business
- Someday/Maybe: Personal

Under @Agendas, I create a task for each person I need to talk to, and I put what we need to discuss in the task's notes.

Obviously, @Waiting For contains anything that I'm, er, waiting for. I record these items similar to the following: "Ticketmaster: receive tickets to Bears game [8/12/07]". (Who, what, when did it become something I'm waiting for). If I need to follow up on it, then I will identify that need during my weekly review, and I will create a new next action "Call Ticketmaster about Bears tickets" and put it in the @Phone category.

The remaining @ categories contain my next actions -- tasks, just the way you would normally record tasks in windows mobile or outlook.

The Projects categories have one task for each project that I am currently committed to. The Someday/Maybe categories also contain tasks. This simplifies the movement of projects between Active and Someday--just change the category.

Other lists (ex. Stuff I Need to Buy, Gift Ideas, Books to Read, etc.) are kept as Notes.

The @ contexts will probably change over time. Mine do. For example, I just recently added an @Storage context, because I have several things I need to take care of next time I go to my storage unit on the other side of town. When I'm done with that, I'll probably delete the context from my categories. So don't sweat it if your collection of contexts isn't quite complete.

There are other quirky little things that will come up as you really start working the system, but after a little while (and hopefully less trial and error than I went through) you'll work it all out.

The important thing to keep in mind is that there are myriad ways of handling this stuff. What works for some of us may not work for others. Don't be afraid to experiment and find out what works best for you.

[RussReynolds]

Thanks very much for the great replies guys.

It is truly appreciated,

Russ

[unstuffed]

Russ, you might want to add an @OutAndAbout list, for all the things you can only do when you're away from home. Possibly more than one, if you have different locales (say, city and seaside, or East and West, or something). That's up to you, just remember that the Next Action lists group NAs according to where you'll be and what tools you'll have available. That's why we all have slightly different NA lists.

For instance, I've toyed with the idea of having an @Grubby list, for when I'm wearing my skungey old clothes at home. It would hold various gardening tasks, little fiddly bits on the car, some minor household maintenance, and so on. Anything that needs to be done fairly soon, but shouldn't be attempted when I'm wearing my Seeing Clients clothes.

[rbhailey]

Russ,

Just my 2 cents, but I have used clear context and I would recommend it for someone that has acheived a few belts for GTD mastery. I have done much better using the simpler GTD outlook add-inn. The coaches and DA would tell you that simpler is better. Good Luck!

Brad

[cornell]

Two simplifications you might appreciate:

1) Contexts are optional. The key action categories in GTD are: your calendar (Outlook has) and three lists: projects, actions, and waiting for. Use your tasks and master categories for the latter (davidco's guide - was $10 - is very helpful for this). So I recommend starting with a single actions list, and start subdividing by context only if and when you need it. In my system, I've broken out @errands, but all other actions stay in @actions.

2) Regarding connecting projects and actions, here's a simple trick:use keywords to connect actions and projects:

Another trick is carefully wording projects and next actions so the
FIND feature in Outlook can "tie" them together during the Weekly
Review.

Example:
PROJECT= Dallas seminar presentation delivered
@CALL = John re: his travel plans to Dallas, ###-###-####
@COMPUTER = Check Expedia re: Dallas flights
@ANYWHERE = Start a mind map re: Dallas presentation

So FIND = Dallas would isolate all of these items during a Weekly
Review or anytime you just wanted to check-in on the status of this
effort.

[RussReynolds]

Guys,

Thanks so much..this information is great.

I would really love to buy Davids GTD with outlook but do not have a credit card. I use PayPal online. If anyone is willing, I could send them the money via paypal and then they could purchase the book and forward it to me?

This is a lot to ask so no problem if not.

Thanks for all the well thought out info guys, this is great.

[dgorecki]

Just another take on what everyone's been saying here

I use between 2 and 4 categories for every task:

1 is for context: @home, etc.. (pretty standard)

1 is for Project: I use Clearcontext that makes this real easy since the Project name assigned in CC synchronizes with the category and brackets those categories with "[" and "]"

1 optional one is for Important contacts. I prefix them with a "^" so that they are sorted together. This category can either be a person I deal with on a regular basis, or a role on a project. For instance, I have one called ^Project Sponsor, and can be used for any project. I can then filter on the project and "^ Project Sponsor" and get a list of what I need to talk to that person about. Use of Roles keeps the number of categories down.

1 other optional one is called !Now which I use for Next Actions. When sorted by project I can easily see the next action, or I can see all my !Now cats in one place and see what projects they belong to.

Good luck on your system!!