GTD and Outlook 2007

S

sestamey

0
I purchased the whitepaper called "GTD and Outlook 2007" because, well, I use both. New to GTD, long-time Outlook user. I am struggling with a couple of things, however, and would appreciate any thoughts/advice:

1) In the To-Do Bar, if I change the sort to Categories per the suggestion, I'm not sure how to handle weekly recurring tasks. When I mark one complete, it re-generates the next week's task, but it shows up in the same category with the same name. I don't have a grasp on putting tasks as all-day events on the calendar yet and not sure I want to do that exactly. Any suggestions?

2) Also in the To-Do Bar, it is suggested to remove the "Flag Status" and add "Complete". However, clicking on the check-box for "Complete" does not mark the task as done for me, so I end up opening the task which is annoying. Is this how Outlook is supposed to behave, or am I missing something?

That is all for now, but I am sure I will have more questions as I try to implement the suggestions in the paper (which is great, and well worth the $10, by the way).

Scott
 
Some tips

Hi,

For the recurring Items I use a specific Category (I call it Tickler, but you call also use it DateSpecific). I make sure that in the Calendar view I see these items on the day due dates. In the ToDo bar you can filter them out (do not show this catagory) or just do not expand this specific category

The Complete field does not work in the ToDo bar. Just right click the task and select Mark Complete.

Hope this helps,

Bernard
 
Thank you Bernard, that sounds like a good solution for recurring tasks. I may give that a try. Thanks as well for the tip on the Complete field... I wouldn't have been surprised if it was just me, but very glad to hear that it isn't!
 
I advise against using Outlook recurrence features on Tasks. It's not reliable and causes synchronization problems with mobile devices.

I have a series of things that I want to my Tasks list at various intervals (weekly, monthly, etc). For each interval I've created a CSV file (weekly.csv, monthly.csv) of such Tasks and I import them into my system at the appropriate time.

To create a CSV file, create a new Tasks folder (call it Temp), build a list of Tasks inside it (so you don't mess up your regular Tasks list), then export it to a CSV file.
 
To get the Complete checkbox to work in the To-Do Bar, Customize the view settings and go to "Other Settings..." in the bottom "Other Settings" section and disable "Use compact layout..." and choose "Always use single-line layout."
 
ellobogrande;81021 said:
I advise against using Outlook recurrence features on Tasks. It's not reliable and causes synchronization problems with mobile devices.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I have experienced too many odd synchronization issues when using recurring tasks. My workaround for truly repetitive tasks is to put them on the calendar on the date I can START working on them, then drag them to my Tasks as a single-instance task.
 
Thanks again for the tips and advice. I've used recurring tasks successfully for a long time, but if I run into synchronization problems with my new (Droid) phone, I may consider the calendar option. The CSV file option sounds effective but time consuming (and easy for me to forget).
 
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