M
m_s
Guest
This is my first post, and I am new to GTD. I have been so impressed and positively effected by the simple genius of this system that I am really keen to find the best way to implement it in my life and work.
Until a few months back, I used Outlook on my PCs (home and work laptops), and synched both (quite easily) to my Pocket PC. A while back I came across The Bat!, and this works far better as my email client. The main thing that it can do that Outlook can't is that it enables me to personalise the formats in which I export and save messages. I work as secretary to a busy man, and I give him regular themed digests of his incoming email, which I save in batches and then format with macros in MS Word - I have found it easier to work with this in The Bat! than it ever was in Outlook. Also, I like that The Bat! is significantly lighter on resources.
But of course Outlook covers so many areas so well... So choosing not to use it for email meant needing to find another calendar (I settled on Calendarscope), and another addressbook (I use A-book). And that's only one side of the dilemma, because I've also got the Pocket PC to think of. So I have been experimenting with different pieces of software - MyLifeOrganized, ListPro, PhatNotesLite, OneNote, PocketInformant (which I have used for a few years, but never previously realised the power of)... But I keep landing up feeling they're only doing the job partially - and so I'm only doing my job partially.
(I feel a bit now like just writing this down is helping me clarify my thoughts, and perhaps answering my own question - but I do have a specific question to ask: ) In the experience of others using this forum, does it eventually come down to Outlook being the best way to implement GTD in working with a PC? Am I wasting time in trying to find alternatives, or should I just accept that - because The Bat! meets my email needs better than Outlook - I will use that for email and Outlook for the rest? Or is there another option for calendar/tasks/notes that I have missed? Or another way of working with the programs I do know about?
Until a few months back, I used Outlook on my PCs (home and work laptops), and synched both (quite easily) to my Pocket PC. A while back I came across The Bat!, and this works far better as my email client. The main thing that it can do that Outlook can't is that it enables me to personalise the formats in which I export and save messages. I work as secretary to a busy man, and I give him regular themed digests of his incoming email, which I save in batches and then format with macros in MS Word - I have found it easier to work with this in The Bat! than it ever was in Outlook. Also, I like that The Bat! is significantly lighter on resources.
But of course Outlook covers so many areas so well... So choosing not to use it for email meant needing to find another calendar (I settled on Calendarscope), and another addressbook (I use A-book). And that's only one side of the dilemma, because I've also got the Pocket PC to think of. So I have been experimenting with different pieces of software - MyLifeOrganized, ListPro, PhatNotesLite, OneNote, PocketInformant (which I have used for a few years, but never previously realised the power of)... But I keep landing up feeling they're only doing the job partially - and so I'm only doing my job partially.
(I feel a bit now like just writing this down is helping me clarify my thoughts, and perhaps answering my own question - but I do have a specific question to ask: ) In the experience of others using this forum, does it eventually come down to Outlook being the best way to implement GTD in working with a PC? Am I wasting time in trying to find alternatives, or should I just accept that - because The Bat! meets my email needs better than Outlook - I will use that for email and Outlook for the rest? Or is there another option for calendar/tasks/notes that I have missed? Or another way of working with the programs I do know about?