Outlook --> GTD --> active sync to any android app

omertrik

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Hello Guys,

My head is is going to explode. I was trying to set a new gtd system this weekend. The system that would be incorporated into my outlook desktop client, allowing to make tasks out of emails, add categories eg. @call, and sync to any Android app. to have an overview on the go.

And I failed...

I have purchased todoist as it have outlook plug in, yet copying emails to todist is a daunting task. I was hoping that the plug in will give additional functionality like outlook flags...

Than I made as set up in outlook as recommended by David Allen. I still does not solve the problem as there is app than during sync. used outlook categories.

Has anyone solved the puzzle how to truly set gtd with outlook and android mobile device? Kudos to him!!! And please share how have you managed to do that.

Some hours later. I managed to sync categories from Outlook to "Taskes and Notes" app. that sits on my SGS4. Yet it is not exactly what I was looking for. So any other recommendations and/or solutions very welcome.
 

omertrik

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OK. I managed to solve it. Todoist outlook plugin does not help much with outlook task sync so I have removed it and installed Remember the milk. This one integrates well with outlook tasks and the android interface is nice. I am now using the free trial, but seems I will make a purchase.

Any recommendations for outlook tasks improvement? I have found ClearContext add-in. Haven't tried it yet. I wonder how will it go with RTM.
 

omertrik

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I am quite surprised that no one shared his/her experiences with implementing GTD over outlook.
Nonetheless, for future reference I made some progress, so maybe someone will use my experience.

As a first step I have installed Remember the Milk. It provides an Outlook add-in, which is synchronizing Outlook tasks with Remember the milk. This way I am able to see my tasks on my mobile phone.

Unfortunately I was not much happy with the outlook tasks itself. It was difficult to organize it into the projects and contexts. So I was looking for some Outlook plugin, which could do the better job. The only one, which seemed reasonable was ClearContext.

I must say it does a great job. It is able to organized your actions into projects and context. So you can easily view your next actions basing on the context and projects. The excellent news is that this projects and context are transferable into Remember the Milk, so I have all the system portable.

There are also some other benefits of Clear Context. It was always challenging for me to track the issues, which I have delegated to others. I work as a project manager in construction, so you can imagine the amount of delegated actions. Clear Context allows a function called - follow-up. It adds delegated tasks on to separate list, where you can define deadline, reminder etc.. The great thing is that once you receive a rely for delegated actions it goes off from the follow-up list.

I am still fine tuning the whole system. Nonetheless its functionality is exactly what I needed it for.

If anyone have got experience with any of this 2 apps I am happy to exchange ideas.
 

scotteeboy_S

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Thanks for your advice here omertrik. There simply is no way perfect way to do this and I've been trying most of the tools. I live in Outlook so I wanted to leverage the todoist plugin. But it's limited in some of it's functionality. IQTELL is a tool I've been using and it's great- very powerful.
 

omertrik

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Hi scoteeboy. It is unbelievable for me that no one how came up with a solution for outlook. Like it or not, but it is one of the biggest email clients.
For me the bottom line is that task management softwear have to have outlook integration. todoist plug in allows very shallow integration - you can copy emails into you actions and it was not what I was looking for.
Remeber the milk is better in that field.

I would be really greatful for the softwear, which would provide me full gtd experience with my outlook email client... so for have not found single SW.
 
I am also intrigued by the promised functionalities of Virra.
I need a tool that interates with Outlook and am currently using office365 and MS Outlook Pro Plus 2013. Currently I am using clearcontext which suit all my need (no ios), and certain functions it doesnt have but it is a consistent and tested tool. If changing I want something rock solid.

I have been browsing through the net, but cannot find many reviews, youtube videos and forums discussing about Virra and when going through your website, I cannot read anything about background, the founders, ideoligy etc.

What is the story behind this app?

And honestly the website, doesnt really gain my trust. Which quality program is this?

I like Omertrik and Scotteeboy live in outlook and I am appalled about the poor selection of tools.

I tried
todoist - next to worthless. very clunky operation, frozen windows and limited functionality
netcentrics - worked kind of ok, but now stopped support and further developement
clearcontext - works ok, but has some limitations I dont like
viira - ???
iqtell - I like to work in the outlook program and if I remember well, then when using iqtell, then all had to be done in their interface. plus they advised close of shop last year and then reopened - however dont have much faith in those guys.

In general I seem to be in the same dilemma as you guys and would be very curious about sharing experiences and also learn about how you integrate ClearContext and RTM.
 

omertrik

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Hi Jakob,

At first I was happy with in RTM and CC working together, yet after time I have encountered some limitations, which has caused me stop using RTM.
RTM allows to create subtasks, This is not recognized by CC. Basically the only way it works is that you enter your tasks in CC and than you can view them in RTM. If you enter tasks in RTM it is difficult to CC. They are synchronized by project selection is difficult.

Paying for RTM just to be able to viev your tasks on your mobile phone is expensive solution.

Now I am testing new app. Tasks and Notes for Android. I looks promising as you do not need any additional addin for syncing.

On my testing list is still waiting Viira and Trello.
 

bedfw

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How are corporate clients using Outlook implementing GTD and tasks? How to get someone from GTD to comment here?
 

Aburn_222

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bedfw said:
How are corporate clients using Outlook implementing GTD and tasks? How to get someone from GTD to comment here?

This is my first post on this forum...I use a Samsung and you can sync your Outlook tasks on ActiveSync with the native S Planner app. Unfortunately it does not display catagories (in my case I have them set up as 'home,' 'office,' etc). It is still a way to record your tasks and then to process when you get back to the computer. I tried Wunderlist but didn't like it. I'd love to find something that does sync catagories. For what its worth, Windows Mobile 8 used to do this in the Outlook feature but they completely removed ANY tasks in Windows 10!!
 

Steve Bourne

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Hi folks, I just joined this forum tonight and am, like all of you interested in mobile solutions utilising Outlook as the core GTD app and Android as the mobile OS. So far the best sync solution I have found is "Nine" by Nine Folders as the Active Sync client. It has good support for categories, email flags, sorting and filtering. It syncs calendar and categories sync within calendar. It supports Folders and Notes.

The only thing I have found wanting so far is the ability to add an email attachment (containing relevant information pertaining to the task) with the task in Nine.

I use Wunderlist for this functionality at the moment.

I am looking to integrate Outlook and OneNote in my implementation of the GTD principles.
Already seeing some neat OneNote features and the Outlook Addins speed up the Workflow. Now that MS own Wunderlist they may incorporate some of its features directly into Android Outlook client.

Nine is not free (Try and Buy) and I expect I will shell out the equivalent of a couple of lattes for the privilege. Not a bad deal really.

Most of the other task management software for the Android had big gaps in functionality or simply wouldn't sync with Exchange out of the box. Amongst others I have tried Touchdown (now owned by Symantic), Todoist, and GogTasks - an Outlook Addin that syncs tasks with GMail. It gets gets rather confusing by that stage.

So hopefully Nine will improve or MS will check its to do list...soon.

Cheers
 

radioman

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My PIM is Outlook 2010, and I use CompanionLink (starting at about $50) on my Windows 10 laptop PC to sync with the DejaOffice app (free) on my Android smart phone. The combination syncs Outlook contacts, calendar, tasks, and memos (and you can choose to leave any of those out of the sync process if you prefer).

Thus, my data resides primarily in two places: Outlook on my PC and DejaOffice on my phone. DejaOffice also lets me sync from it to the Android contact list, so that the Android phone app can recognize names and numbers of incoming callers.

It's not perfect, but, with an understanding of a couple of minor limitations, this approach has worked OK for me. I guess that it has to, as I know of no other integrated solution that does not use Exchange.

Joe
 

Tom.9

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Here´s the thing:
My WindowsXP desktop crashed. It worked fine for me: Outook 2003 synced via USB with my Palm.
I had to buy a new desktop with Windows10 and Outlook 2016. No Palm support. I had to buy an Android smartphone.

AFTER THAT
I realized, that there is a huge sync problem - as most of you know. But up to that I didn´t see the relevance of the zillions of threads and posts regarding this.
FOR NOW
I sync Outlook desktop with Outlook android. For NextActions and Reference I am trying to use OneNote desktop and Android. Unfortunately, transferring tasks from Outlook via copy/paste in OneNote doesn´t transport the notes section.
 

stagnant

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To add to this, like omertrik mentioned in the first post, I use the Tasks & Notes app for Android. It handles categories very well and allows me to QUICKLY add Next Actions to my list as they come to my head. It is not too complex and pretty easy to setup to group by Category, just like I do in Outlook. I use Outlook 2016 on my computers and easily drag & drop emails or text to new tasks (right mouse button dragging is great!). My only gripe about Tasks & Notes is that it does not open emails that are attached to a task. I usually just copy the email text to a task to work around this.

I also use OneNote religiously, but I build all other lists & checklists there, including my Weekly Review. I may sometimes create an Outlook task from one of the items, but using OneNote as the primary GTD app was too cumbersome.

Outlook + Tasks & Notes = Almost Perfect (for me). Give it a shot.
 

DiePlusGo

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hi. If outlook desktop synchro is mandatory, better choice would be microsoft to-do. Really basic functions, but I'm using just for such function.
 

John Ismyname

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I utilize Outlook's advanced functionality in using GTD on this platform. i can't replicate this on an Android phone. My Android is a collection tool that allows me to jot down or dictate a task, check my schedule and enter a new appointment. That said, with my GTD/Outlook on my always-on laptop, its usually easier to flip open the lid and do it there.
 
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