Brain Freeze

On the Davidco website in the Products section they offer a PDF file called “GTD and Outlook” that describes, funny enough, how to implement your lists, etc in Outlook if you’re implementing GTD.

The website states that the document was really designed for Outlook 2003 and they stress

*NOTE* This current document is NOT yet compatible with Outlook 2007.

I’m here to tell you that with minor tweaks it works just fine with Outlook 2007.

Action List Manager

This section basically works as-is. One difference is the section that discusses customizing your master category list. In Outlook 2007 there is no “master category list” per se. It is just called Categories. It serves the same purpose but the implementation under the covers is different, and better. In this section of the document you simply need to bring up a new task as stated in the directions but you then select Categorize in the ribbon and then select All Categories. Then simply follow the same instructions given in the paper to set up your categories.

There is a task “speed key” that they describe of -g to open the master category list. In Outlook 2007 the equivalent is first -h followed by g. Key Tips and badges (as they are called) are described here.

One other section that is a bit different to set up in Outlook 2007 is where they describe having your task list display next to your daily calendar. The “Arrange by” menu mentioned is gone. Current View for the Calendar has its own menu now and TaskPad has been replaced by the To-Do Bar. So…to restructure their instructions (while on the calendar display):

1. View->Current View->Day/Week/Month
2. View->To-Do Bar
• select Normal
• select Date Navigator
• select Task List

Using the Calendar

This section is exactly the same. It really discusses more how GTD has you use your calendar vs. anything about Outlook.

Organizing Email

Same as above. This is more about what to do with email vs. Outlook-specific items.

Useful Lists/Notes

The only difference here are the menu changes in Outlook 2007. Outlook 2007 has View->Current View and View-Arrange By as two separate menus. Also, instead of Categories in the menu that is accessed in a note by clicking on the icon in the upper-left portion of the note you will see Categorize. Easy.

Final Words

As can been seen the changes, as they relate to the “GTD and Outlook” document, are slight. Really there are just some menu changes that have been made between Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007. The core functionality is the same (or better in 2007) and from what I can tell all of the shortcut key combinations work as they did in Outlook 2003.

If you’re looking to see how David Allen’s company recommends using Outlook to implement GTD I highly recommend buying this PDF. It is only $10 and not only does it explain how to set up and use Outlook in the GTD system it is also a good mini-reference to GTD itself.

So I’ve been doing GTD for a bit now and keeping up pretty well with the process. The one part of the process that I’ve been absolutely terrible keeping up with is the weekly review which, of course, is one of the most important parts of the system However so far things seem to be working well regardless.

One of the problems I’m finding thought with trying to do GTD with the PC is, well, the PC. I’m using Outlook right now because it syncs well with the Blackberry I have from work. The big problem though is that I have to be at a PC in order to update my lists, etc. I suppose I could use paper but then if that was the case why not just switch to paper in the first place?

There are two great things about paper: the portability and the immediacy. My Blackberry is portable but the user interface is awful. It’s painful inputting items on it even with the “full” keyboard. It takes a long time. So far nobody has matched the interface of pen with paper.

The Blackberry also will not let me categorize calendar items which I then have to update later on Outlook. I tend to like using the color-coding of calendar entries because it gives me a real quick view of my contexts.

I’ve been holding off on trying paper because of the old problem of having to constantly copy items when having to start new pages in the organizer. I just realized today however that with GTD that isn’t an issue. Because I am working with contexts in which things have to be done and not dates on which they have to be done (when not in the calendar but it isn’t an issue with the calendar) there is no need to move things around. They are simply crossed off when done and the list can easily be expanded by just adding a new page and continuing.

The other neat thing about paper is the freebie templates like DIY Planner and The Printable CEO. There are some fantastic options on just those two sites.

So fine. At this point I’m pretty much convinced that I’m not getting much on the computer that I can’t get with paper. In fact I think I’m missing out on some things by not using paper. The one thing I’m not sure about though is this: what if I don’t want to carry a paper planner around with me when I’m not at home and not at work? What are other people doing in this situation? I have the Blackberry almost all the time so while it isn’t ideal it’s highly portable. I just don’t think that’s a good reason to not use paper. Anyone have any ideas?

So in GTD one of the things that we’re supposed to do is make use of the calendar for three things (the so-called Hard Landscape):

• Date-specific information
• Things that need to happen on a certain date
• Things that need to happen at a certain time (and date)

One problem that has really plagued me in the past is “how do I know that an item on the calendar is complete?” I don’t mean that day the event occurs but down the road when I’m reviewing items to make sure they’re done (mainly making sure bills were scheduled). Long-time GTDers may say that I shouldn’t need reminders. Between the fact that the calendar should be considered sacred (according to The David himself) and the weekly review I shouldn’t need any indication they might say.

They may be right however in my current state I need these indicators. The next-actions list it is quite obvious what is done and what isn’t. Not so with the calendar so in Outlook 2007 (my current choice for GTD following the Outlook 2003 guide from davidco.com). There is a quick and dirty way to flag completed items though using categories.

In the category list I created a category called “completed” and its color is set to bright red. When I have finished something thats in the calendar (”Schedule credit card payment” for example) I clear its current category (@something) and either flag it with the “completed” category so it shows up as bright red or I reflag with “completed” then also add the original category back in. The effect with the second method is that the last category you chose in the list is the main color while the other categories are presented as small color squares inside the item (forgive me..I don’t have any screenshots handy at the moment). This little red “flag” also shows me that something is done.

So far its working well. Hopefully at some point I won’t need those reminders but for right now I’m sticking to them

A couple of weeks ago I started the process of using David Allen’s Getting Things Done personal management methodology. GTD appeals to me because of the way it starts off in dealing with the day-to-day stuff before moving on to the “higher level” stuff like life goals, etc. Why? Because if you’re not dealing effectively with the small day-to-day issues then you really won’t have the ability to give energy and productive thought to the bigger issues. It definitely is a bottom-up method.

So far so good and I’m not expecting miracles at this point. David Allen says that it usually takes a person 2 years before the method (this in a podcast talking to Merlin Mann of 43folders.com). Coming from being so disorganized its definitely going to take me a while to get the steps set as habits. I’m already finding it challenging to follow the workflow all of the time. I have to constantly remind myself to do it but I suspect thats normal trying to use this system coming from none