Crossplattform tool office 365 for work and Gmail for private

[crilloan]

Hi!

After being in a brutal crunch mode for a couple of months Im looking for a way to get into GTD.

Work as a consultant and firmly entrenched in Office 365 (teams and all) and Jira as a tool to drive work for others (Im new to Jira and kanban as well).
Personal and private mail is in Gmail.

I Understand the principle that having one inbox is important.
I´ve taken a look at using Mcrosoft To Do, it allows me to have both my customers account and my private old hotmail account but there seems to be no way of kicking tasks that comes from Gmail in that direction (tasks regarding my daughters and booking game nights with friends etc.)

Is todoist the way to go or are there other options?

Regards
C

 

[Jared Caron]

This is a common issue for a lot of people who are forced to use separate tools for work and personal. A common misconception upon the first read of GTD is that David is advocating for one tool. It's really one integrated system. I think it would probably be ideal to have one tool, but it doesn't turn out that way for a lot of people. I have to use two tools for work and home since in healthcare much of what I deal with is confidential information and cant cross paths.

I use O365 for work and Todoist for home. MS To do would be perfect except that my employer's firewall prevents sync to mobile devices, which defeats the purpose for me. So I just use outlook tasks while at work and todoist for home stuff.

Todoist has some features that make it useful for this:

• Email data entry - so i can forward items from either my work or personal email into my todoist inbox
• Great mobile apps
• Tons of Flexibility in setting up your lists
• A web app so I can access on a big screen while at work

Other apps I've used with similar functionality for using two setups:

• MS todo - my favorite since it's free, built on the bones of Wunderlist, it's really a solid app. Unfortunately, as I mentioned it doesn't work for my situation.
• Nirvana - great if you want to avoid a subscription, solid app, very stable, extremely compatible with GTD.

The two I keep coming back to are Nirvana and Todoist. I think todoist has more features but Nirvana is more orthodox GTD friendly. They both offer free trial versions but you'll need to pay to set up a functional GTD system in either.

 

[Oogiem]

I Understand the principle that having one inbox is important.

um, not sure where you got that idea, In the books they talk about having as many inboxes as you need and no more. And also emptying them trgularly. I have paper and email inboxes but I also have inboxes that are in other apps and for other purposes. Twitter can be an inbox, reading lists is an inbox, my list of saved web URLs I might want to see later is an inbox and needs to be curated into a useful reference. I actuall have all saved bookmarks go into a folder called Inbox just toremind me that they need to be evaluated and moved into more permanent locations for storge and reference if I really need them.

 

[crilloan]

Thank you for your inputs.
Much appreciated

I'm reading the updated GTD book now (and as a lot of books its a WOT compared to how it could have been written )
Having several inboxes, including physical, makes since.

So, as a start up solution until I begin to find my feet could be something like

google tasks as inbox for those private mails that have to be handled in some way.
A physical box (bills and that broken external hard drive I need to get important pictures from)
MS To Do (two accounts, private/work) (might go to Todoist or NirvanaHQ when I have mastered the basics.

How do you handle multiple inboxes?
Go through them in the weekly overview and set up tasks for them?

Feels like a drowning man trying to claw my way to sanity

/C

 

[Oogiem]

How do you handle multiple inboxes?
Go through them in the weekly overview and set up tasks for them?

I just work through them all each day. I spend on average an hour to hour and a half processing inboxes.

Feels like a drowning man trying to claw my way to sanity

Hang in there I've been using GTD sicne 2008 and I am always learning and improving my system. It's a process that never finishes.

 

[TesTeq]

Feels like a drowning man trying to claw my way to sanity

There's a mistaken expectation that writing down everything we think we should to do will automatically reduce the number of these things.
No, it won't. It will only allow us to see that we've got too many things to do and motivate us to get rid of them or transfer them to the Someday/Maybe list.

 

[Deirdre]

How do you handle multiple inboxes?
Go through them in the weekly overview and set up tasks for them?

I use O365 Outlook/OneNote, etc at work and Gmail/Drive at home. I use To Do for my tasks. I also love the tags feature in One Note that allows me to tag what I need to do (calendar, project, task, reminder), create a separate One Note page and email it to myself.

At the beginning of each day, I block off 30 minutes to check my in-boxes including email, paper in-box, Siri, Alexa, To Do and Google tasks. Sometimes it's Siri on my watch when I am out walking; sometimes it's Amazon Alexa reminder, shopping list, etc when I have my hands full of meatloaf or dough; sometimes, it's a note on paper when I am in meeting. At the end of each day, I block off 30 minutes to check each in-box, too. Mostly I have the luxury to do this, sometimes I don't do it and I have the next morning to catch up.

As part of my weekly review, I check my in-boxes, Tasks, To Do, Amazon reminders and Siri. As long as I have the reminders to check the boxes, I never worry about where I put my reminder or to do.

I used to be rigid about "only" using a certain task manager - Google tasks or Wunderlist, now To Do. Once I got in the groove of identifying and checking all my inboxes, I relaxed quite a bit. It finally, FINALLY made sense - it's not the tool, it's the system.

 

[crilloan]

@Deirdre
That sounds like a solution that would work for me. Both concerning tools and procedures.
A checklist for daily and weekly review.

Thank you all for input.

 

[Deirdre]

Hi!
After being in a brutal crunch mode for a couple of months Im looking for a way to get into GTD.

Also, when I started in earnest, it took me a couple of months to feel completely comfortable with the system and the workflow. I love technology so every new, shiny tool was like "squirrel" for me - and I was off redoing and reconfiguring. I had to put a hard stop to new, shiny tools and focus on the system as a whole.

Honestly, every time I see a post about cool GTD tool recommendations, I waiver a tiny bit. But my system works like clockwork now and I have to keep moving along, telling myself there is nothing more for me to see.

This forum has incredibly smart and generous people. Glad you are here!

 

[Suzanna]

ok this is very similar to my issue, i am outlook and Microsoft todo is INCREDIBLE for me, I just use the flag email system and drag all those emails to my lists. I love it. I have a personal gmail inbox and HATE IT. I really struggle with the format and the starring and it just really doesn’t work for me. The only thing I have tried to do is set an easy ‘forward’ to my work email and then flag it and put in todo that way. I bet I could set a rule that any email that comes from my gmail is auto flagged - but I LOVE todo and hate gmail and just wish I could figure out a better way.

 

[crilloan]

So, after the first struggling steps..
This time around I'm taking babysteps , not trying to dive into todoist with all belles and whistles of the GTD system at once.

Tools: Microsoft ToDo, using the fact that I can switch between two accounts (personal, work)
Since I'm working in life science and responsible for creating a DMR for a biotech instrument I have task list per major documents to be created.

Each morning I go through the lists and decide which document projects which need to move forward which ones I'm waiting on and so forth.
In the task manager I have created recurring tasks as update JIRA Board, follow up flagged emails etc.
After the morning planning I move chosen tasks to "My Day" ( and in the afternoon I remove non completed tasks from My Day).
Its not a complete GTD implementation by a long way, but my goal is to make a lasting change this time.

Honestly, every time I see a post about cool GTD tool recommendations, I waiver a tiny bit. But my system works like clockwork now and I have to keep moving along, telling myself there is nothing more for me to see.

This!
When I tried Todoist close to two years ago I wasn't ready. I focused more on the software and less on establishing habits and stable procedures.
I might move back to Todoist later, but not until I have the basics set in place.

ok this is very similar to my issue, i am outlook and Microsoft todo is INCREDIBLE for me, I just use the flag email system and drag all those emails to my lists. I love it. I have a personal gmail inbox and HATE IT. I really struggle with the format and the starring and it just really doesn’t work for me. The only thing I have tried to do is set an easy ‘forward’ to my work email and then flag it and put in todo that way. I bet I could set a rule that any email that comes from my gmail is auto flagged - but I LOVE todo and hate gmail and just wish I could figure out a better way.

I've had Gmail since anno dazumal and almost all of my private contacts are connected to that account.
But I'm actually thinking of moving everything to Microsoft and outlook (the horror ). I use it at almost every workplace and I have a private subscription to office365.

Regards
Christer

 

[Xavier BOEMARE]

Thank you for your inputs.
Much appreciated

I'm reading the updated GTD book now (and as a lot of books its a WOT compared to how it could have been written )
Having several inboxes, including physical, makes since.

So, as a start up solution until I begin to find my feet could be something like

google tasks as inbox for those private mails that have to be handled in some way.
A physical box (bills and that broken external hard drive I need to get important pictures from)
MS To Do (two accounts, private/work) (might go to Todoist or NirvanaHQ when I have mastered the basics.

How do you handle multiple inboxes?
Go through them in the weekly overview and set up tasks for them?

Feels like a drowning man trying to claw my way to sanity

/C

Hi,
Each time I go to an inbox (outlook, gmail, physical one, twitter, etc. you name it) for the clarify step, I send or write the action/project in my list manager system inbox (Omnifocus for me). So I start the organise step from one single inbox : the Omnifocus one.

For each inbox (outlook, gmail, physical, eyes.), you might have a different check frequency. Personally, work is twice a day, personal once, physical one once a week, etc.

I only empty the Omnifocus inbox during the weekly review, not the others (different timing, and allow me to avoid the 2mn rule, that personally disturbs the energy of the weekly review).

 

[Jared Caron]

How do you handle multiple inboxes?
Go through them in the weekly overview and set up tasks for them?

Don't wait for the weekly review to empty your inboxes. That is a recipe for overwhelm. Best to get in the habit of processing your inboxes at least daily or every other day. Also whenever you have a spare moment and don't know what else to do, it's always value-added to clean one up.

You want your next action lists to be as current as possible so you can make good choices in the moment of what to do next. So it's a constant flow of inputs, throughput (processing & organizing), and hopefully outputs (completed actions)

 

[Xavier BOEMARE]

Hi,
Each time I go to an inbox (outlook, gmail, physical one, twitter, etc. you name it) for the clarify step, I send or write the action/project in my list manager system inbox (Omnifocus for me). So I start the organise step from one single inbox : the Omnifocus one.

For each inbox (outlook, gmail, physical, eyes.), you might have a different check frequency. Personally, work is twice a day, personal once, physical one once a week, etc.

I only empty the Omnifocus inbox during the weekly review, not the others (different timing, and allow me to avoid the 2mn rule, that personally disturbs the energy of the weekly review).

To be more accurate, as I realised that my last sentence might be misleading: I do empty my Omnifocus inbox at least twice a day, AND/BUT that's the only one I empty during the weekly review.

 

[Allenori]

I’m using Office 365 for work and Gmail for personal stuff. What’s helped me is linking my Gmail to Outlook using IMAP. It’s not perfect for task integration, but at least all my emails are in one place. For tasks, I keep it simple with Microsoft To Do and manually add personal tasks to it. Not the most high-tech solution, but it stops things from falling through the cracks.

If you're managing all these accounts for various projects or clients, aged Gmail accounts can actually provide better stability and credibility for marketing purposes. I found a site that offers stuff like this, and it’s worth looking into if you're dealing with campaigns or client communication. For more details check here.

 

[fooddude]

Hi!

After being in a brutal crunch mode for a couple of months Im looking for a way to get into GTD.

Work as a consultant and firmly entrenched in Office 365 (teams and all) and Jira as a tool to drive work for others (Im new to Jira and kanban as well).
Personal and private mail is in Gmail.

I Understand the principle that having one inbox is important.
I´ve taken a look at using Mcrosoft To Do, it allows me to have both my customers account and my private old hotmail account but there seems to be no way of kicking tasks that comes from Gmail in that direction (tasks regarding my daughters and booking game nights with friends etc.)

Is todoist the way to go or are there other options?

Regards
C

I would only have one inbox. Can’t you forward everything from gmail to your outlook account as it comes in? When I had an exchange account I could add another email to it. Now I only have the one gmail account. But when I was working and had two, that’s how I combined them. I wanted it to be as if I had one system. I never separated work from personal in email or gtd system. I figured I have one life and all that stuff needs to be in it.

 

[Y_Lherieau]

Hi!

After being in a brutal crunch mode for a couple of months Im looking for a way to get into GTD.

Work as a consultant and firmly entrenched in Office 365 (teams and all) and Jira as a tool to drive work for others (Im new to Jira and kanban as well).
Personal and private mail is in Gmail.

I Understand the principle that having one inbox is important.
I´ve taken a look at using Mcrosoft To Do, it allows me to have both my customers account and my private old hotmail account but there seems to be no way of kicking tasks that comes from Gmail in that direction (tasks regarding my daughters and booking game nights with friends etc.)

Is todoist the way to go or are there other options?

Regards
C

You’re absolutely right that consolidating into one “inbox” is pivotal. Given your Office 365/Jira environment plus Gmail, you can absolutely keep Microsoft To Do (or Todoist, if you prefer) as your single source of truth—by using an integration platform like n8n or Make to bridge everything.

1. Use Microsoft To Do as your main inbox

You already have access to Microsoft To Do across your Office 365 accounts. You can build an automations that:

• Capture personal Gmail tasks
• Capture work‑related Jira issues
• Capture flagged Teams messages or Outlook emails

…all into your single MTD list.

a) n8n workflow example

1. Trigger: Gmail → “New Starred Email”
   • Node: Gmail Trigger (watch for ★ or label “GTD”)
2. Action: Create a task in Microsoft To Do
   • Node: HTTP Request to Microsoft Graph API
   • Endpoint: POST /me/todo/lists/{listId}/tasks
   • Payload: subject, dueDate, link back to the email
3. Trigger: Jira → “New Issue”
   • Node: Jira Trigger (e.g. “issue created” in your project)
4. Action: Create a task in MTD
   • Same Graph API node, mapping issue key + summary → task title

You can chain filters or conditions (e.g. only JIRA issues assigned to you, or only Gmail starred items), then all flow into your “GTD Inbox” list in Microsoft To Do. n8n’s self‑hosted edition is free but rapidly needs a subscription, very flexible, and supports both these triggers out of the box.

b) Make (Integromat) scenario example

1. Gmail module → Watch for new emails with label “GTD”
2. Microsoft To Do module → “Create a task” in your GTD list
3. Jira module → Watch Issues (filter by project/assignee)
4. Microsoft To Do module → “Create a task”

Make provides pre‑built templates you can clone instantly, and you can add extra steps (e.g. Slack or Teams notification, error logging in Google Sheets, etc.).

2. Alternatively: centralize in Todoist

If you’d rather use Todoist as your inbox, the patterns are nearly identical:

• n8n: Gmail Trigger → Todoist “Create Task” node
• n8n: Jira Trigger → Todoist node
• Make: Gmail & Jira modules → Todoist modules

You can also map Office 365 flagged emails → Todoist, or even have Microsoft To Do automatically mirror into Todoist via a third workflow.

Why this removes all roadblocks

• One inbox: every task from Gmail, Jira or Outlook lands in a single list.
• No manual copy‑paste: once set up, it’s zero‑touch.
• Full context: each task includes links back to the email or issue.
• Scalable & tweakable: add filters (by label, priority, project) or enrich tasks (add due dates, tags).

To explore further, head over to YouTube and search for “Getting started with n8n” or “Make tutorial”—you’ll find step‑by‑step demos and community showcases. And once your basic flows are live, you can level up by integrating AI agents—your own « digital employees » —to proactively handle follow‑ups, summarize discussions, route tickets, and more.