Please connect if you are using Office365 (Onenote, onedrive, Todo) for GTD

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holmesii

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I want to say I'm new to GTD (around a year), but I'm finally using office 365 to manage everything for my life and seems they are working well. Just watched the video about the omnifocus, it has some features, but I would not use it as I have to use many other tools to do support and reference.
However, in office365, with OneNote, Onedrive (and a little MS ToDo, I used it to implement GTD, but found out I juse need onenote, that's enough. ). I can execute all GTD very well and Onenote is a super reference/support docs. Actually one notebook is sufficient (but for different working environments, I have to use multiple notebooks for reference/support).
I'm really interested to connect with any people who are using office365 for GTD. Please connect and share. Thanks!
 
I'm a Microsoft 365 user through work, mainly:
Work;
MS ToDo - for N/A lists and Project lists, linked by using #<Project> or #<keyword>.
OneNote - for project support material
Outlook & OneNote - reference material
XMind - mapping all of my HoF for work
Personal:
Nirvana - N/A lists and Project lists
OneNote - project support material
TheBrain - reference material
TheBrain - HoF
 
holmesii said:
I want to say I'm new to GTD (around a year), but I'm finally using office 365 to manage everything for my life and seems they are working well. Just watched the video about the omnifocus, it has some features, but I would not use it as I have to use many other tools to do support and reference.
However, in office365, with OneNote, Onedrive (and a little MS ToDo, I used it to implement GTD, but found out I juse need onenote, that's enough. ). I can execute all GTD very well and Onenote is a super reference/support docs. Actually one notebook is sufficient (but for different working environments, I have to use multiple notebooks for reference/support).
I'm really interested to connect with any people who are using office365 for GTD. Please connect and share. Thanks!
Click to expand...
As a clinical social worker, with a case load, I have extremely focused moments of opportunity for therapeutic engagement. That means I have to be on my game with everything in flow in the moment when the door is open.
At work, we have the full suite of Microsoft 365, and I've been using Microsoft ToDo for Next Action Support. OneNote for Project Support.

I use the standard GTD contexts, with a couple focused lists - based on Areas of Focus by context.

One trick I use is to consistently include the initial of each client I have. That way, while standing in front of them, I can do a search for their initials, and find each entry, across all contexts. For example, if I was looking for myself -- PG* I put the asterisk afterwards, to resolve any initials that maybe part of a word. I'm noticing this works better in the portal, and good enough on the iPhone.

Primary data input is via the web-portal of ToDo. The game-changer is the seamless synch to iPhone, which I'm primarily using in the field.
Key: Minimal contexts. When I find, over time, that the entries are zero - I delete the context. When there are too many entries, it's likely because they're not really in an actionable context.

Therapeutic engagement - this works because what comes over consistently to the client is that it's evident I really care about keeping track of every single next action, across every single project we're working on. Nothing is overlooked or lost. Something tangible occurs when the client knows I care, to that level of detail.

Also... I don't have to remember endless items!
Welcome to the world of GTD. I've been integrating this since 2006. The idea is to be continually flexible (experimenting with different approaches) to ensure you're efficiently externalizing your mind.
 
Thanks for sharing. At very beginning, I was also using different tools to keep different components in GTD. However, I realize I'm not a person to keep them all in my mind. For now, I just use onenote for everything. I was using ToDo to keep next actions, but it's a little problem to keep note in ToDo. I have to copy links here and there. Or search the support/reference materials in onenote. This make the whole process not that smooth.

So I might be wrongly using ToDo (but it's still a very powerful tool and I use it among family for sharing things), but I'm comfortable to have everything in onenote (thought I need two accounts because a bug in office 365).

I'm wondering if any of you can share some screenshots about your next actions/support material organization? That might be help to me (or maybe to other people) to apply your strategies in my GTD system.
 
Using a similar setup as mksilk2
MS ToDo - for N/A lists and Project lists, linked by using #<Project> or #<keyword>. and if assigned to @someone
OneNote - for project support material and reference material
SimpleMind Pro - Braindumps, thinking and horizons.
 
My list is quite simple. the top section is the standard MS ToDo view, then I have my NA & Calls, followed by only two Project lists, then WF and Someday. Below that is my Agenda group, that contains about 8 lists of individuals that I meet with and use to get items off my mind and onto the list so when I next meet with them I will remember what I wanted to discuss. Then the final grouping is a couple of lists that capture other items I want to track and not forget, a kind of miscellaneous capture.

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didn't make it too hard as well. I noticed that I created a "mixed environment" using English and Dutch at the same time.

1694502522229.png

I created a group "NEXT ACTIONS", within this group I created a number of lists (in Dutch :-) ). From top to bottom, 'this week', next week, this month, rea & watch list (low energy) and Waiting for.
I created a TICKLER group, containing the months of the year and a "Someday/Maybe" list. This way, I force myself to go through the last list mentioned at every monthly review.
Routines are the things that are recurring, creating reports, booking time, weekly review etcetera.
The reference group contains my TAGS.
As mentioned earlier, my projects are listed as tag, so a task will look like: "Do something #project". If I am waiting for someone to do something for me, I will add @SomeOne to the taskname and move it to the waiting for list.

I keep the tags to a minimum though, listing the assigned work projects. If a task has multiple steps, I put them in as a subtask to avoid clutter.

As we use Teams and Planner at work, I created an automation, so if someone puts a task to my name, it will show up in MS Todo as well.
 
Hi
I am mostly using Office for GTD.
Outlook for emails, each account has a separate profile for security.
One drive for storage. I use Google Drive too for backup and reference materials, as I started off with a smaller storage allowance. It also segregates some of my work which I prefer.
I added free Zoom integration to the calendar, only there's a known issue with it adding teams meetings too.
Lists tend to be in a mind map , shared projects with hubby are MS To do e.g. holidays.
 
Office user here, locked in for work. To Do for projects, waiting for, next actions and agenda lists. I use the default 'tasks' list as an inbox. I have the app on my phone, and a double-tap on the back of my phone opens to do and lets me capture immediately.

OneNote for reference, project and action support. Have tried to use it for for actions and as a list manager but found syncing to mobile to be poor, plus the interface on mobile repels me. Key factor for me is being able to access my list manager on my phone, as I tend to do processing on my commute and can't always take out my laptop.

Outlook for email and teams for quick chats. Most of my inputs come through email and teams and it's possible to create items in To Do by flagging in outlook. When processing I move flagged items into the 'tasks' inbox. Really useful to be able to change the name in To Do to have a verb and be clear, rather than using the email itself as an action reminder or having to find an email with a useless subject. The email is still linked to the action and outlook can be opened from to do. Likewise I often make actions out of teams messages or posts directly in Teams and they appear in To Do

Outlook for calendar - think this is a given as most people at my organisation tend to have an agreement on booking time in others calendars. Use colour-coded categories to differentiate between actions (orange), information (yellow), meetings (blue) deadlines (red). I wish there was some more integration between to do and the calendar, like giving an action a due date blocked that date/time on your calendar, and completing it in one place also completed it in the other. Or at least a way to indicate calendar tasks as complete as viewed in calendar.

OneDrive for reference, though I tend to keep emails in outlook as reference and only tend to pull attachments out if I'm using it heavily for action support. SharePoint for shared files linked to the relevant folder in my OneDrive - I don't tend to spend much time in SharePoint web or in the files areas in Teams.
 
My input to switching from Todoist to MS ToDo for GTD.

Current setup

Work:
Todoist
Outlook 365
OneNote, OneDrive 365

Personal:
Todoist
Gmail
OneNote, Google Drive

At work I primarily use Office 365 and have tried a few times overt he past years to switch from Todoist to MS ToDo.

Reasons to make the switch:
- Flagged E-mails will open in Outlook Desktop app.
- Tasks assigned to me from Planner, Loop, Teams and other MS 365 apps, appear in ToDo automatically.

Reasons I always go back to Todoist after a few days:
- Flagging an E-mail from Outlook does not allow to select a specific list and/or tag in same operation. here I have to go to the flagged E-mail list in ToDo and apply a tag and drag'n'drop to the related list.
- Using tags is frustrating. Only when creating a new task in ToDo, an inteligent dropdown list appear when typing #. When editing a task, the smart tags dropdown do not appear, which makes it highly likely that you waill add an incorrect tag, because you have spell it all out.
- Using the categories functionality is frustrating, as it only seems to appear in the embedded ToDo version in Outlook.
- Tasks assigned to me from other MS 365 apps appear in the list "assigned to me", but I cannot move these to other specific lists. Only adding tags is possible.

So, in short I am missing some of the usability features from ToDoist, that keeps me efficient.
I hope Microsft will keep developing ToDo, to one day make it a good enough for me to make the switch.

/Kim
 
I use office 365 fully for work and personal. I keep everything separate except my calendar.

I use Outlook for tasks and project lists. I have tried todo a little but seem to drift bac to outlook tasks.
I use One Note for projects and some reference. Most of my reference goes into a onedrive or sharepoint folder. I have been trying to use planner with some of my teams but so far there has been very little engagment.
 
pgarth said:
As a clinical social worker, with a case load, I have extremely focused moments of opportunity for therapeutic engagement. That means I have to be on my game with everything in flow in the moment when the door is open.
At work, we have the full suite of Microsoft 365, and I've been using Microsoft ToDo for Next Action Support. OneNote for Project Support.

I use the standard GTD contexts, with a couple focused lists - based on Areas of Focus by context.

One trick I use is to consistently include the initial of each client I have. That way, while standing in front of them, I can do a search for their initials, and find each entry, across all contexts. For example, if I was looking for myself -- PG* I put the asterisk afterwards, to resolve any initials that maybe part of a word. I'm noticing this works better in the portal, and good enough on the iPhone.

Primary data input is via the web-portal of ToDo. The game-changer is the seamless synch to iPhone, which I'm primarily using in the field.
Key: Minimal contexts. When I find, over time, that the entries are zero - I delete the context. When there are too many entries, it's likely because they're not really in an actionable context.

Therapeutic engagement - this works because what comes over consistently to the client is that it's evident I really care about keeping track of every single next action, across every single project we're working on. Nothing is overlooked or lost. Something tangible occurs when the client knows I care, to that level of detail.

Also... I don't have to remember endless items!
Welcome to the world of GTD. I've been integrating this since 2006. The idea is to be continually flexible (experimenting with different approaches) to ensure you're efficiently externalizing your mind.
Click to expand...
I had referenced using PG* to make the initial unique.

Fell into a better method which is tag of #PG. now able to click on one tag and it groups all together.

Still not 100%, but better.
 
I use Outlook for my lists, tickler and calendar and also OneDrive for the reference system. And pretty much that’s it.

I don’t use OneNote cause basic folder structure on OneDrive and Windows searching tool work good enough for me.

For MS To Do – I use only the quick capture tool for mobile.


If you guys have any tips or suggestion how you’ve been simplifying your setups in MS 365, please share.
 
I'm close - my work is still using Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016. OneNote is my main system for NA lists and project support. I started out using Outlook tasks, but major sync issues made me try OneNote. Now we are using MS Teams a lot more I have changed to using the default ON tags, and really like that I can tag things in either my ON or the shared ON notebooks, and create a consolidated list across all of them. I'd love to hear more about how people are setting up their ON when they are using them as the action lists
 
MS365 here, desktop Outlook - still with Tasks,
avoiding Todo due to its poor attachement handling (using it only on mobile for quick capturing, list checking)
Onenote for specific reference
 
My ecosystem:
- Capture —> Outlook O365 PC client
- Organize —> Outlook Calendar (hard landscape), Todoist (Action lists, projects)
- Reference system —> Perso = OneNote, Pro = TheBrain

For mobility, all is synced on IOS too.

See other thread I recently published where I have automated the delegation flow from email to Todoist (using Visual Basic for Outlook).

All horizons of focus are in Todoist as inserted comments to Todoist tasks, see print screens below.

I have a template project ready to go for new project creation.
I duplicate it at project creation step and rename it accordingly.

Note that I have 2 templates, one for pro and one for perso projects. Why? Because there is already a label assigned to each template which allows to build project lists (pro & perso).
I am using board view when working with projects. In first column, last element is always my unique “NA”. Second column is where I drop all “Defer”. 3rd column is where all “WF” land automatically from the delegation flow I built in VBA Outlook.

For my perso reference system in OnNote, I have one binder call GTD, this where all the perso project support material goes. One binder for general reference material and one other for technical reference material - both organized with group sections, sections depending on the volume handled using ‘A’ to ‘Z’ as new inserted pages ie: ‘B - Bank…’

For my pro reference system, everything is in TheBrain. One Brain per client and always configured identically. I like to see in a mind map view what exactly is my work looking like.
 

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pgarth said:
As a clinical social worker, with a case load, I have extremely focused moments of opportunity for therapeutic engagement. That means I have to be on my game with everything in flow in the moment when the door is open.
At work, we have the full suite of Microsoft 365, and I've been using Microsoft ToDo for Next Action Support. OneNote for Project Support.

I use the standard GTD contexts, with a couple focused lists - based on Areas of Focus by context.

One trick I use is to consistently include the initial of each client I have. That way, while standing in front of them, I can do a search for their initials, and find each entry, across all contexts. For example, if I was looking for myself -- PG* I put the asterisk afterwards, to resolve any initials that maybe part of a word. I'm noticing this works better in the portal, and good enough on the iPhone.

Primary data input is via the web-portal of ToDo. The game-changer is the seamless synch to iPhone, which I'm primarily using in the field.
Key: Minimal contexts. When I find, over time, that the entries are zero - I delete the context. When there are too many entries, it's likely because they're not really in an actionable context.

Therapeutic engagement - this works because what comes over consistently to the client is that it's evident I really care about keeping track of every single next action, across every single project we're working on Exclaimer. Nothing is overlooked or lost. Something tangible occurs when the client knows I care, to that level of detail.

Also... I don't have to remember endless items!
Welcome to the world of GTD. I've been integrating this since 2006. The idea is to be continually flexible (experimenting with different approaches) to ensure you're efficiently externalizing your mind.
Click to expand...
After spending a few years “GTD curious”, I’m finally making an effort to fully implement (more or less) GTD in my life. The most crucial aspect is applying the methodology at work. I have spent far too long continuously playing catch up and worrying my time away because I’m unable to keep track of where this project is or what questions and takeaways I had from a meeting- and don’t even ask me about delegated tasks. Long story long: I’m drowning. But I’m committed. My company uses O365 and I’m most comfortable with a OneNote/ ToDo combo. I have to take a lot of notes, and many of my tasks (standalone or related to a project) come to me via email. Has anyone attempted using ToDo in conjunction with OneNote for GTD? What is (or was) your set-up or process like? I often take note of questions or talking points that I’ll need to bring up in future meetings, and I haven’t found a way to tack those effectively in ToDo (I like the question mark and lightbulb tags in OneNote). Please help. Please and thank you!
 
**unable to keep track of where this project is or what questions and takeaways I had from a meeting- and don’t even ask me about delegated tasks. Long story long: I’m drowning. But I’m committed. My company uses O365 and I’m most comfortable with a OneNote/ ToDo combo. I have to take a lot of notes, and many of my tasks (standalone or related to a project) come to me via email**

A couple months ago, I ran into technical difficulties with ToDo app because it wasn't authorized on iPhone.

Therefore, I've now transitioned 100% to OneNote, which I'm actually liking better.

My suggestion is to start off really simply, with the basic contexts, and then only expand when really necessary. I'm still surprised how few I have. For example, @Home, @Work, @Computer, Agenda, Waiting For, SomeDay/Maybe, Errands, Projects. If I'm at Home - I'll prioritize with looking at @Home and then @Computer. If I'm at Work, I'll prioritize with looking at @Work and then @Computer. There's a subtlety there - @Computer. I used to get bogged down with defining "where" the computer was.

Within Projects, you could have one "note" which is a master list of all projects - named in GTD style, and literally a list.

Within Projects, the other "notes" are each project. This now become "Project/Action Support". This is my central command post for each project - locators (pointers) of where stuff is - paper-based folders, soft folders, Desired Outcome of Project, etc.

Theme I'm seeing from your post is tracking the Q&A; the delegated stuff; the waiting-fors; along with your own actions. OneNote is good for all that.

I've found that there is no way around it -- the actual next actions must be parsed into respective contexts.

For example, if I have a project where: I have to do something; I'm waiting on someone to get back to me; I have something to mention to someone next time I see them... That means a separate note within each Context -- @Computer; @Waiting-For; @Agenda

I still like the idea of tagging with #<name> for example #David or #DA - by consistently doing that, I can search across all notes and get a quick scan across multiple notes and contexts.

Hope that helps.

Also -- if *really* stuck, get out the "Workflow Processing and Organizing" chart and use it for EACH entry that you're processing. That routinizing of the process will likely reveal something as you're forcing yourself to function for everything - what is the meaning of this?

If you use the workflow checklists, including the Weekly Review Workflow - and you internalize "Oh, Yeah... I forgot I had to do that portion of the checklist" - then you'll know what I mean.

I'm a big fan of copying/pasting stuff from email and then filing the email. For me, it's too easy to get in the weeds of associating an email with an action. An email saved to a folder is technically reference and not actionable. The contexts are actionable.
 
samuelethan said:
After spending a few years “GTD curious”, I’m finally making an effort to fully implement (more or less) GTD in my life. The most crucial aspect is applying the methodology at work. I have spent far too long continuously playing catch up and worrying my time away because I’m unable to keep track of where this project is or what questions and takeaways I had from a meeting- and don’t even ask me about delegated tasks. Long story long: I’m drowning. But I’m committed. My company uses O365 and I’m most comfortable with a OneNote/ ToDo combo. I have to take a lot of notes, and many of my tasks (standalone or related to a project) come to me via email. Has anyone attempted using ToDo in conjunction with OneNote for GTD? What is (or was) your set-up or process like? I often take note of questions or talking points that I’ll need to bring up in future meetings, and I haven’t found a way to tack those effectively in ToDo (I like the question mark and lightbulb tags in OneNote). Please help. Please and thank you!
Click to expand...

I suggest to start with official setup guides for MS OneNote, MS 365, MS To Do:
https://store.gettingthingsdone.com/product-category/setup-guides/

Some useful but different perspective information for OneNote you can also find in the below short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed_APi00pYg

If there is the specific and regular kind of meeting then I would suggest to put it separately on agendas list:
  • AGENDAS
    • Status meeting – project A
      • Issue to discuss
 
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