Hiding Tasks with Distant Due dates

  • Thread starter Thread starter UscholdM
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UscholdM

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I have several dozen tasks, and a number of them have due dates many weeks or months away, and I don't want them in my view for day to day task selection.

I want to create a filter that only shows me tasks whose due date is within say 4 weeks of today - so that when the task comes into this time horizon, I see it.

There are a LOT of filter options with dates and times with Outlook, but I could not find one that did this, nor could I think of a workaround, but methinks there must be one.

Anyone got any ideas?
Thanks

Mike
 
I use start date filtering in outlook under right click the task heading area, customize current view, filter, advanced tab, and make sure these 2 are in the criteria area:

* start date is on or before today
* start date does not exist

This keeps the tasks with start dates tomorrow and beyond out of view but does show tasks with no start dates or with start dates on or before today.

I always use the start date option with a due date although you could probably use the same filtering options with the due date field as well.
 
I'm having excellent results with TWC

I just got Total Workday Control by Michael Linenberger.

I have never been an outlook power user of any sort, but the configurations were very easy and, so far, exceptionally effective.

Basically, everything is sorted with Dates and No Dates views. The tasks with dates are sorted by Due Date. You would be able to see what was coming up the pipe using a custom view called, "All Daily Tasks".

I have really struggled with implementation and this system has had very obvious effects on my productivity and responsiveness to clients nad collegues.

Hope that helps.
 
whkratz said:
Hi Mike -- Using the Query Builder you should be able to easily define a filter that fits your needs. If you don't already have the Query Builder running (likely), here is a link that will help you turn it on: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307922
Hope that helps.

Regards.....Bill Kratz
Click to expand...

Thanks, this looks interesting. The link you give does not have an option for Outlook 2003. I found instructions for this here:
http://coolthingoftheday.blogspot.com/2004/11/query-builder-outlook-advanced-find.html IT said to turn on registry item:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0OutlookQueryBuilder

but when I looked in my registry, I browsed all the way to Outlook, but tehre was no QueryBuilder after that.

Mike
 
tyGTDer said:
I use start date filtering in outlook under right click the task heading area, customize current view, filter, advanced tab, and make sure these 2 are in the criteria area:

* start date is on or before today
* start date does not exist

This keeps the tasks with start dates tomorrow and beyond out of view but does show tasks with no start dates or with start dates on or before today.

I always use the start date option with a due date although you could probably use the same filtering options with the due date field as well.
Click to expand...

Hey, this is what I was looking for! Thanks, this works just fine.
I could not figure this out on my own, in part, because there is no indication anywhere that "today" is a legitimate value.

Does anyone know where is it documented what values can go in the value area for what field?

Thanks
Mike
 
Intero said:
I just got Total Workday Control by Michael Linenberger.

I have never been an outlook power user of any sort, but the configurations were very easy and, so far, exceptionally effective.

Basically, everything is sorted with Dates and No Dates views. The tasks with dates are sorted by Due Date. You would be able to see what was coming up the pipe using a custom view called, "All Daily Tasks".

I have really struggled with implementation and this system has had very obvious effects on my productivity and responsiveness to clients nad collegues.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I bought that book a while ago, skimmed it and thought it looked fabulous. I mean to pour through it in gory detail to pick up more goodies.
I will look out for the part you refer to.

Mike
 
Hi Mike -- The instructions for activating Query Builder work for Outlook 2003 also. You just have to use the ".....Office11.0Outlook" key instead.

Yes, filtering either with the Advanced Tab or the Query Builder is one of the worst-documented things in Outlook. You can get a few clues by Googling around, but I've never found a comprehensive reference. Probably the best approach is to just try things, and see if Outlook will accept your syntax (it will usually give you an error message if it doesn't like something, though acceptance is no guarantee that it will work just like you thought it would!).

Regards.....Bill Kratz
 
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