Unable to use PDA at work

  • Thread starter Thread starter RichardGEmes
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RichardGEmes

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Hi All,

I've been using a PDA to GTD for several years now but have just started a new job where I'm not allowed to use a PDA. My first thought was to revert back to using a paper planner but the company uses Outlook so there would be some duplication of effort in terms of calendar entries etc.

It's crucial to me that I have my work calendar accessible at home as I travel a great deal so my family need to know when I'm out of the country. A PDA was ideal for this, no extra effort required to have my calendar 'always on'.

Using a planner for home activities and Outlook at work I thought might work but then how do I get my work calendar accessible at home ?

Does anybody have any suggestions as to a good way to work around any of the above ?

TIA for any advice

Regards,

Richard
 
Can Outlook publish a calendar as a web page which you could then access from you PC at home (assuming you have one)? I don't use Outlook but seem to remember seeing something like this when I was fiddling with it at home (we use Groupwise at work). Strange that you're not allowed a PDA at work :(

Edward
 
Thanks Eddie, not being able to use a PDA is something to do with the powers that be not wanting sensitive information to be carried around. Not an issue as far as I'm concerned, PDAs can be as secure as laptops as I'm sure you're aware, but unfortunately I don't make the decisions !
 
OK, how about using the PDA unconnected to the PC? Could you use it purely for GTD stuff (I'm sure there are topics here about doing it all on a Palm or PPC)? The downside is that your calendar information can't be shared, documents can't be copied (but then that's the reason for the block on PDA's) and editing information on the PDA is less convenient than on the PC. I'm lucky, I suppose, in that most of my "GTDing" is done using Bonsai on the PC and only on the Palm (a Treo180) when I'm away from my desk (or at home).
 
Sorry, forgot the main reason for the PDA - the calendar access.

Edward
 
Exchange?

Does your company use Outlook Exchange? Ours does, and it's configured so that I can access my email and calendar from any website. Maybe you trust your family enough to give them the logon so they can view the calendar?

The other option is to synchronize your Outlook calendar with Yahoo -- if you can download their utility, then it's a simple process to keep them synchronized. If you can't download software onto your work computer (which is the case in my company), then you can export your calendar file and upload it to your Yahoo calendar -- it won't be 'real time', but if you do it daily or weekly or whatever works for you, that might be a good option. Your family can then access your Yahoo calendar.

I'm kind of in the same boat, and I am running duplicate calendars in Outlook and on Paper -- so far it's working OK, I just make sure to write my appointments both places at the same time.
 
Pardon if this is blatanly obvious, but sometimes that's the best kind of thing.

Depending on what kind of time frame you need with your calendar, you could print your outlook calendar as needed and carry it with you as needed. That way you wouldn't have duplication.
 
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