Netcentrics Outlook Addin--Broken Trust--Again

[enovabus]

After several good months of running ver. 3.1 of the Netcentrics Outlook add in, my work system is down again--not sure why yet (of course right at the end of the year, again). Ive been through all the quirks, glitches, patches, updates, tweaks over and over and think I'm finally done with it-- I think. This time it may not even be a add in fault--not sure, but it's taken 2 days so far of troubleshooting.

The problem, when the add in works I love it. Its perfect for me. I'm not into constant tweaking of systems for the "hobby" of it. I want a bullet proof system (well almost anyway) that I don't have to think about. Ive been through the GTD hobby stage and want a trusted system that if it does tank I can get it up and running again with confidence that Its fixed for a long time. I really thought I was there this year with the add in, as I have been doing well "doing" GTD and not "thinking" GTD.

My question is, while I have seen many reviews of various electronic systems, has anyone left the GTD Outlook add in after using it as a trusted/ very much liked/ depended on (not wise i'm finally learning)/ system and found a better way, or at least acceptable way to use Outlook?

I am familiar with the white paper from David Co. and may have to go that route, although if I recall a few years ago I did see the paper and it required a lot of manual set up. Maybe I have to go that route. Would like to hear from others experience with this situation, and what eventually worked for you.

Very frustrated that I may need to rework my system again....before the new year.

 

[Barb]

My thoughts

I use the Add-In and like it, but had a hard drive crash earlier this year that nearly sent me back to paper permanently. I know it's "old school", but I'm still thinking about it.

I have had Add-in problems in the past and I don't like not being able to talk to a live human being when something goes wrong. I'd gladly pay for that level of support.

As far as I know, there isn't any other Outlook product that is worth a hoot.

 

[tominperu]

Funnily enough today I started the 30 day trial of the Add-In and like it so far.

I have long thought it was too expensive but the amount of emails that make up my workflow has gradually increased and I now think I just have to find quicker ways of managing the interface between emails and next actions.

I love the way you can so easily create a task from an email and that attachments in the email can be so easily found from the task. That is going to save me time each day I think and justify the expense. Importantly it will also make me less likely to procrastinate unnecessarily on quick tasks/actions associated with emails.

I am intrigued as to what problems you have had with it.

 

[enovabus]

I am intrigued as to what problems you have had with it.

Please see this link Tom, If you have not already, Click on Problems and errors
https://gtdsupport.netcentrics.com/forum/

I have had many of the problems noted in this forum.
Again, I love the add in when it works. It worked quite well for me this year other than irritating but "acceptable" crashes once in a while....In fact I have been purring along well enough all year with GTD that Ive been away from forums such as this....

As Barb said above I don't think there is a better alternative for outlook users.

Good luck with the add in. All in all it was worth the price + later upgrade to me...as it feel it really gave a good foundation in GTD...till now, my patience is gone (Still would like to be talked of it though...maybe a version 99?)

 

[kelstarrising]

Hello enovabus

So sorry to hear you are having challenges with Netcentric's product. I hope they are able to resolve that for you.

If you decide to move away from their product and go "vanilla" Outlook as I call it, you can squeeze lots of functionality out of Outlook. If you email me, I am happy to give you a free copy of the GTD & Outlook Setup Guide to walk you through how to set things up. The onetime setup you'll do takes about 15 minutes to configure Tasks. Beyond that, the manual part of things will take more effort than the Add-In facilitates, but if it's crashing on you, it may be a time saver in the long run! The biggest function you'll lose going to vanilla Outlook is linking of projects and actions. But the Setup Guide describes other ways to achieve that.

Kelly

03/3/2011 Update: Hi Forum Readers! Many of you have written to me asking if you can get the same offer I put out to Enovabus. Sorry for any misunderstanding on that--I was just offering it to Enovabus for all of the problems they experienced with our partner. You can find all of our Setup Guides for sale in our Store: https://secure.davidco.com/store/catalog/GTD-Setup-Guides-p-1-c-263.php Thanks!

 

[rotez]

I have used the GTD white paper set-up without any issues. I know it might seem "vanilla" but my last 2 jobs would not allow the add-in to be used on their machines. We were using Outlook 2003. My current employer is on Outlook 2007 and will allow the add-in but I was not sure it is necessary. I'm so used to the white paper set-up I see no reason to change. I've never experienced a crash and everything syncs to my work Blackberry without ever missing a beat.

The one time white paper set-up is worth the time and effort in my opinion.

Hope that helps, good luck.

 

[TravHollis]

I was just looking at possible add-ins for GTD in Outlook!
If I understand the discussion here correctly, the Netcentrics one is great, as long as it works and on the other hand people are recommending to drop the idea of a tool and to do it with just the basic Outlook features?

I have been playing with Tagwolf, which is great looking and works very smoothly, but it doesn't do GTD, it just files email.

So for the actual GTD stuff I'm still looking.

 

[Tom.9]

Outlook whitepaper

I was using Outlook 2003 for about 2 years with some personal setup.
When I recently changed it according to the GTD whitepaper, it was a real upgrade (overview, velocity). Changing categories, for example, is much easier when everything is in "tasks" then in "notes".
The sync with my (stone-aged) Palm still works perfectly.

 

[radioman]

Outlook White-Paper

My Fortune-200 employer won't permit employees to install non-standard software without a *very* good reason. We use Outlook, so, rather than trying to get the add-in approved for my use, I have used the white-paper method for about 3 years to do GTD at work (My "home" GTD system is a separate setup, again because of the prohibition on syncing my personal smart-phone to the corporate network.)

I vaguely remember reading that there are a couple of features in the add-in that are either not possible or not as simple via the white-paper method (and I do not know whether that still holds true), but the white-paper system works very well for me. Including the time to read the white-paper (which includes, in the way of background, a discussion of a number of basic GTD concepts from the GTD book), it took about an hour to figure out and set everything up.

Once I got it set up, it's been mostly on "auto-pilot," unless I hit a wrong views-menu option, in which case I have to break out the white-paper again and spend less than 10 minutes applying a few fixes. (I have to learn: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," as there is no "undo" option in changing the views).

Joe

 

[enovabus]

Will phase in the GTD Outlook 2007 White Paper on my home system

Appreciate the thoughts on white paper implementation from all.
I did get responsive help from GTD Outlook support via email--and why were both not sure why....the add in started working again...(hmmm). I immediately did a year end review and shut down the computer when finished yesterday.

For now I am going to continue to use the add in at work--provided the add in comes back on in January , but remove it from my home computer and use the David Co Outlook white paper (thanks Kelly) for my much simpler personal system and see how it goes.

Once I get comfortable with it I will see how it works for me at work. Not having project central, and associating actions with projects (I just have do to that--can't change ) as the add in has will be the hardest thing to let go for me I'm sure....
Thanks all for your insights.