Outlook white paper vs. add-in

[mace01]

What are the differences between the white paper and the add-in, besides $60? What am I getting for $60 more? Paying $60 more isn't a problem if there are definite pros to buying the add-in.

A couple questions:

1. How hard is it to manually configure outlook?
2. How time consuming is it?
3. Are future updates, of the add-in, an advantage worth paying $60 for?
4. Are there features availabe with the add-in that are not available if configured manually?

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Add-in vs. White Paper

The add-in is very well described by the material on the web, plus a free trial is available. It is particularly useful for managing email. I don't use it, because it is not designed to work with the work PC/home PC/palm/IMAP for mail set-up I use. The white paper is a description of how to configure Outlook for GTD. Most of the things it tells you how to do are done for you by the add-in, but with the add-in you lose some flexibility. I found the white paper helpful, even before I was using Outlook. If you want a concrete, extended look at a "vanilla" GTD system, I recommend it.

Mike

 

[emp]

Very useful

I have tried the add-in and was disappointed.

I purchased the whitepaper (for the old, high price) and was delighted.
It helped me to "dumb down" Outlook and trim it to usable shape.

I'd say, try the add-in (but backup your Outlook .pst first) and if you do not like it, get the paper. :wink:

::: emp ::

 

[Mike Ferguson]

I reconfigured outlook according to the white paper. I guess it took maybe an hour to read and click through all the changes. It was very useful to me when beginning to implement GTD because it connected me to the details of processing. I could see everything happening. I then started using the add-in and I love it. For me, one advantage is the speed of processing. The time it takes from receiving an email, to the commitment I capture related to that email being a next action, is just seconds. Not that it took all that long with the simple reconfiguration, but it adds up. But the real advantage may be more subtle. The add-in provides a series of decisions so that I don’t have to think as much about the system. When I pick up a piece of paper out of my in-box, I sometimes still have to say to myself, Is it actionable? Are there multi-steps? What’s the next action? And if I'm distracted I sometimes still have to look at the workflow diagram. With the add-in there are no hesitations beyond the initial decision that, yes, there is a commitment here I need to capture. I click action and then the software basically walks me through very quickly.

 

[jerendeb]

I went back to just Outlook, no Add-In

I am in the process of recommitting myself to GTD with Outlook & the guide that I bought when it first came out. I uninstalled the Add-In. I use a Laptop at home & a Desktop [networked] at work. I found some strange glitches with my use of Palm m515/KeySuite config. After getting this all straight my syncs are perfect. I found that some of the automated decision makers in the Add-In didn't fit. Like for me the @Action folder in the Inbox for email I found a good place to forget about. So stuff just sat. Same with Deferred. I almost went into PlannerPad or other paper but I am just too paperless to try that anymore. My main committement is/will have to be the Weekly Review. I've got to do that or else I may as well fill my psychic RAM until my head explodes. I need a Mind Like Water not a Mind Like Mud. I have all my systems in place, my buckets are waiting to be processed, I just gotta employ the human factor called discipline.