Quick capture for Outlook (or To Do)

[Lucas W.]

Hi everyone. I wonder if you guys have any tricks for quick capture to your desktop Outlook or To Do?

I'm quite keyboard-oriented so in the past I used Todoist quick capture tool (shift + alt + T) with some Zappier 's integrations – worked quite well - but it's not an "elegant" solution.

Today I've got an email template called mmHotmail.msg and saved in my OneDrive folders. I can find it quickly typing win + mm and then send the email to myself. I'm not sure if this is more "elegant"

I wonder how do you deal with it? Or maybe it’s not a big deal for you?

 

[christophe.portier]

Hi!
I'm using Trello where my only inbox is. So from Outlook, mainly from emails I get and on which I feel I have something to do (store information, answer, read carefully...) I transfer to my inbox using Trello ability to create card from emails.
Cheers

 

[BudgetReferee]

Hi everyone. I wonder if you guys have any tricks for quick capture to your desktop Outlook or To Do?

I'm quite keyboard-oriented so in the past I used Todoist quick capture tool (shift + alt + T) with some Zappier 's integrations – worked quite well - but it's not an "elegant" solution.

Today I've got an email template called mmHotmail.msg and saved in my OneDrive folders. I can find it quickly typing win + mm and then send the email to myself. I'm not sure if this is more "elegant"

I wonder how do you deal with it? Or maybe it’s not a big deal for you?

I use To Do very often. I use snipping tool. One of the things I also do is to add a number such as 1-5 before the title. Now this changes often as things come in. For instance, even though some people say email is low priority, I do it first so my mind is not on it while working on other projects.

 

[Lucas W.]

@christophe.portier, @BudgetReferee – thank you very much for the tips. In the meantime I have found a nice solution which works well for me. Some Outlook GTDers who use Windows may also find it useful so I’m putting below.

Making it short: it’s possible to use the keyboard shortcut to open Outlook’s “Add new task” window on top of all your windows and from any place – similarly as it is for Todoist or Things 3 quick capture bar.

And it’s possible even if your Outlook is closed.


Short guide:

Create an Outlook shortcut on your desktop and right click over the Properties adding the task part in the first top box: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE" /c ipm.task

You can add keyboard shortcuts (I use Ctrl+Shift+T) and change the icon (I have selected the Task icon). I also suggest to drag and drop it to the Windows Taskbar. Just leave a copy of the shortcut on the desktop – otherwise the keyboard shortcuts will not work.

For the shortcut I also suggest to create it directly from your Office installation folder (my was: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE)

 

[christophe.portier]

@BudgetReferee what is your 1-5 number before the title for?
A priority?

 

[Stefan Godo]

CTRL-SHIFT -K is the default keyboard shortcut to create a task on Outlook - you can store it in your "Inbox"

 

[Lucas W.]

CTRL-SHIFT -K is the default keyboard shortcut to create a task on Outlook - you can store it in your "Inbox"

Yes, certainly. However in this way you have to firstly switch to Outlook.

The IPM.Task is a “global” solution.

In the same way you can create new emails, appointments or even sticky notes.

IPM.Note

IPM.Appointment

IPM.StickyNote

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/outlook/concepts/forms/item-types-and-message-classes

 

[Stefan Godo]

Yes, certainly. However in this way you have to firstly switch to Outlook.

The IPM.Task is a “global” solution.

In the same way you can create new emails, appointments or even sticky notes.

IPM.Note

IPM.Appointment

IPM.StickyNote

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/outlook/concepts/forms/item-types-and-message-classes

yes you are right. A global shortcut is universal.

 

[Stefan Godo]

Yes, certainly. However in this way you have to firstly switch to Outlook.

The IPM.Task is a “global” solution.

In the same way you can create new emails, appointments or even sticky notes.

IPM.Note

IPM.Appointment

IPM.StickyNote

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/outlook/concepts/forms/item-types-and-message-classes

works fine, thanks

just add the missing quote mark in the command line at the start:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE" /c ipm.task

 

[Lucas W.]

I’ve got 2 supplements:

1. Keyboard shortcuts Win + 1, 2…, 9 can open the proper application from your taskbar. It’s quicker and more responsive than the keyboard shortcut created through the shortcut’s “Properties”.

2. Tasks created with IPM.task do not synchronize with MS To Do – so please be aware if you expect to use MS To Do in the future. “Old” Outlook tasks module may not be implemented in “New Outlook” which is still on the development stage.