Outlook Add In - Task Views?

[Joe Bryant]

Hi Folks,

New GTD'er here and very much liking it so far.

Decided to let Outlook with the GTD Add In be my digital method of implementing in the office. So far so good.

My question relates to Task Views.

I'm running Outlook 2000 and have manually installed the GTD Add In Task Views which are very cool. But I'd like to be able to view my tasks within that framework showing just the tasks that are current for today. If possible, I'd like to also be able to see the completed tasks still on the screen with a line or grayed out.

The default view lists tasks that are "out there". I have several recurring tasks but with the whole idea of GTD being clearing your brain of the stuff you don't have to think of it's distracting to see those things I need to do next month there.

I also like the "cheap win" of having a completed task stay in view with a line or grayed out.

I'd dabbled with ACT! before changing to Outlook and this was the default view for ACT! Any thoughts?

Much thanks.

Joe

 

[kglade]

Joe:

It is pretty straightforward to set up a view that shows only tasks due today or in the past, and keeps the completed ones on the screen with a line through them.

When you mention "tasks that are current for today" what do you mean by this? It you mean "tasks whose due date is today or earlier" that can be done in outlook. If you mean "tasks that I choose to do today" then the best I can offer is that you mark those as priority "high" and create a filter that just displays them.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Joe:

It is pretty straightforward to set up a view that shows only tasks due today or in the past, and keeps the completed ones on the screen with a line through them.

When you mention "tasks that are current for today" what do you mean by this? It you mean "tasks whose due date is today or earlier" that can be done in outlook. If you mean "tasks that I choose to do today" then the best I can offer is that you mark those as priority "high" and create a filter that just displays them.

Hi Ken,

Thanks. What I mean by "tasks that are current for today" would be "tasks whose due date is today or earlier".

Regarding the completed tasks issue, I'd like to be able to see the tasks that have been completed for that day. In other words, when I work on today (Tuesday), I'd like to be able at the end of the day to see what I've completed and checked (cheap wins... ) But on Wednesday, I don't need to see all of Tuesday's completed items.

Can someone tell me in detail the process for making such tweaks? Thanks.

I've manually installed the GTD views per the instructions and they work fine. (Currently using "Active Tasks By Action - GTD) Will I be just modifying the GTD view or does this require setting an entirely new view?

Thanks.

Joe

 

[pd_workman]

View
Current View
Customize Current View
Filter
Advanced
Due date / on or before / today
Due date / does not exist (for undated items)
OK
OK

Pam

 

[ext555]

tweaking gtd task views

Joe, I think you have to start a new view (Pam gave the exact steps)
I don't think the GTD built in views are tweakable , I seem to recall trying to do that when it came out.

I could be wrong ---try "modify current view " and see what happens.

Paul

 

[kglade]

I'd add a new view based on the Active Tasks by Action (GTD) view. This preserves the plain vanilla view in case something goes awry. I know this never happens in anyone else's world, but it has happened to me once or twice To show just the completed items from today I'd add to the filter

Date Completed / today
Date Completed / does not exist

so that makes the step-by-step as

View
Current View
Define Views
Copy
{Name it whatever you want}
OK
Filter
Advanced
Field
All task fields
Due Date / on or before / today
Add to List
Field
All task fields
Due Date / does not exist
Add to List
Field
All task fields
Date Completed / today
Add to List
Field
All task fields
Date Completed / does not exist
Add to List
OK
OK
Apply View

Regards,
Ken

P.S. In my copy of the add-in I cannot modify the Filter unless I unckeck the box "edit these criteria directly..." on the SQL tab of the Filter dialog.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Task Views

Hi Folks,

Thanks a TON. I guess my "dumminess" was apparent. Those step by step instructions were EXACTLY what I needed.

I followed the steps above and now I'm showing the "current" tasks that have a due date of today or earlier (or no due date)

But I'm still not able to see the tasks that are completed today.

What do my filters need to be set for to show completed tasks for that day?

Much thanks.

Joe

 

[kglade]

Joe: I am out of suggestions - I set up a view according to my steps with the Date Completed today and Date completed does not exist and when I mark a task as complete, it shows in the view as greyed out with a line through it. If you are not getting the same result, I am stumped.

Did you follow my steps or Pam's? Pam's were good but did not really handle the completed items.

Ken

 

[Joe Bryant]

Joe: I am out of suggestions - I set up a view according to my steps with the Date Completed today and Date completed does not exist and when I mark a task as complete, it shows in the view as greyed out with a line through it. If you are not getting the same result, I am stumped.

Did you follow my steps or Pam's? Pam's were good but did not really handle the completed items.

Ken

Hi Ken,

Thanks for info. I set it up per your instructions. Not really sure what the problem is. I'll keep playing with it. Thanks for the help.

Joe

 

[Joe Bryant]

Joe: I am out of suggestions - I set up a view according to my steps with the Date Completed today and Date completed does not exist and when I mark a task as complete, it shows in the view as greyed out with a line through it. If you are not getting the same result, I am stumped.

Did you follow my steps or Pam's? Pam's were good but did not really handle the completed items.

Ken

One more question for the Outlook pros. What exactly am I doing when I set the filter for "Date Completed today and Date completed does not exist " Thanks.

Joe

 

[Joe Bryant]

Figured it out

Thanks Folks,

Figured out why I wasn't able to see the completed tasks. When I created the new custom view, I copied the "Active Tasks by Action GTD" view. I added the filters as Ken and Pam suggested. But my Active Tasks by Action GTD view already had the filters of "complete does not exist and complete = no" to begin with.

I removed those 2 filters and added the new steps and now it works exactly as I wanted.

Thanks a ton for the help.

Joe

 

[jpm]

Outlook Filters

In an outlook filter the conditions for each field are combined by an AND however if there are two conditions that are for the same field the logical OR operator is applied thus:

Due Date on or before today
AND
Date Completed does not exist
OR
Date Completed is today

 

[Anonymous]

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