MindManager - Outlook dilemma

[Doogly]

Based on the advice of many people in the GTD community, and the general passive endorsement by others, I decided to test drive MindManager from Mindjet. Gotta tell you, this is great! I love the fact that you can visually play around with stuff and make connections that you wouldn't notice otherwise.

Anyway, I'm about to make the purchase, but I've got one thing that I can't seem to figure out. This has nothing really to do with functionality, but more to do with approach. So, I'm looking to fellow GTDers for some insight.

In the 'project' mindset of GTD, how do you use MindManager to synch with Outlook?

One possibility is to create a different Mindmap for each medium/large size project, and then synch tasks over. The problem that I've encountered here is that ALL Tasks from outlook come over, creating a mess in the mindmap file.

Another possibility is to use one larger mindmap to track all projects, thereby getting past the synch issue, I believe. But this could get unwieldy, right?

The other "shortcoming" of the MM-Outlook connector is the inability to move "Project" labeling....or am I mistaken and this can be done?

All those MindManager users out there, how do you manage between MM and Outlook?

 

[mochant]

Create the project and tasks in MM

I use a separate map for each medium/large projectr and create the tasks and next actions in MindManager. That way, when I sync with Outlook, it doesn't bring in everything on Outlook's task list. I use the "Export new tasks to Outlook", "Syncronize changes with Outlook", and "Only export topics that use task data options". Then, I can sync with the Palm and have a consistent set of data in all three environments.

The labeling is a problemat this stage. If you know your categories (@Computer, etc.) you can manually enter them in the Categories filed in MM and they will get picked up in Outlook. I, and others, have requested more complete category mapping with Outlook from the developers and I hope to see this feature in a future release.

Hope that helps,
Marc

 

[mochant]

Create the project and tasks in MM

I use a separate map for each medium/large project and create the tasks and next actions in MindManager. That way, when I sync with Outlook, it doesn't bring in everything on Outlook's task list. I use the "Export new tasks to Outlook", "Syncronize changes with Outlook", and "Only export topics that use task data options". Then, I can sync with the Palm and have a consistent set of data in all three environments.

The labeling is a problematic at this stage. If you know your categories (@Computer, etc.) you can manually enter them in the Categories filed in MM and they will get picked up in Outlook. I, and others, have requested more complete category mapping with Outlook from the developers and I hope to see this feature in a future release.

Hope that helps,
Marc

 

[Doogly]

Re: Create the project and tasks in MM

I use a separate map for each medium/large projectr and create the tasks and next actions in MindManager. That way, when I sync with Outlook, it doesn't bring in everything on Outlook's task list. I use the "Export new tasks to Outlook", "Syncronize changes with Outlook", and "Only export topics that use task data options".T hen, I can sync with the Palm and have a consistent set of data in all three environments.

The labeling is a problematic at this stage. If you know your categories (@Computer, etc.) you can manually enter them in the Categories filed in MM and they will get picked up in Outlook. I, and others, have requested more complete category mapping with Outlook from the developers and I hpe to see this feature in a future release.

Hope that helps,
Marc

Marc,

Yes, that helps a lot. Thanks! I am really getting into MindManager. I've found it a workable solution for creating a 'file binder' as well. Its easier to link to files from a project MM than to go searching through directories all the time. I guess you just have to be rigorous in keeping files on the PC organized as well.