Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

A New Option for Getting Things Done in Outlook

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been test-driving the latest version of Netcentrics’ Getting Things Done (GTD) Add-in for Microsoft Outlook.  This one is version 3.0 and, though I owned versions 1 & 2, I haven’t looked at this add-in in a couple of years.

A lot has changed in version 3 – for the better.  Here are a few highlights from the NetCentrics site:

  • provides a powerful Project Central window to consolidate Project Manager and Open Project functions
  • easily Someday/Unsomeday projects
  • provides the ability to Hide/Unhide and Complete/Uncomplete projects and individual subprojects
  • create printable summary reports for projects
  • create Reference Folder and File To Folder defaults for each project
  • implements Outlook 2007 ribbons
  • provides a 2 minute timer

    • In addition, this new version seems more stable than I recall from previous versions (I had occasional Outlook ‘hangs’ with the previous version).

    What does the add-in do?

    GTD Taskbar The GTD Add-in is designed to make it easier to implement David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology – specifically, David’s guidance for managing email, next actions, and projects.  It integrates with Outlook, and you can access most functions via the add-in’s toolbar (above) or with hotkeys.

    The add-in will allow you to quickly act on email by filing it, delegating it, converting to a task or calendar item, etc. and will handle the back-end “plumbing” for putting things in the right place within Outlook.  For example, project reference material can be automatically filed in a folder named after the project. The Add-in also does a decent job of remembering your recent choices for projects, folders, etc. so you can select them from a drop-down list of active or recent projects.

    Project Central

    ProjectCentral

    For me, the most exciting of these new changes was what I saw in the area of Project management.  For me, one of the challenges of implementing the GTD methodology in Outlook has been Projects.  This Add-in makes Project management much easier and more intuitive by creating a “Project Central” project dashboard where you can view, manage, and edit projects and their associated sub-projects and actions.

    In the past, the actions and subprojects were all tracked in my Outlook Tasks, but this was a pain because the project items all sort of jumbled together.  Maybe I was doing something wrong, but it wasn’t working for me.

    With the GTD Add-in, the top-level view looks like my always-familar, structured, hierarchical list and it’s easy for me to create a new action, add notes / thoughts for future steps, etc.

    The Bottom Line

    If you’re a GTD follower using the GTD methodology for email and you’re currently and you’re currently using a “naked” Outlook implementation, this add-in will help you.  Likewise, if you’re big into projects and want an easy way to manage your projects from within Outlook, this add-in will help you.

    Be warned that organization always has a cost.  in this case, you’ll have to change your “workflow” for filing and managing email; essentially, you’ll need to invest a couple of clicks or keystrokes on actionable email to tell the Add-in how to handle your messages.

    As many of you know (since I’ve written about it here before), I’m also a user of ClearContext and use a variant of the original GTD workflow.  The good news:  the ClearContext and GTD Add-ins coexist peacefully.  The bad news:  I’m still using them both since there are certain features I like in each of them (for example, I am using the GTD Add-in for Project Management and using ClearContext for managing long email discussions and filing entire topics in a single keystroke).

    I’d love to hear from you how you are managing your inbox within Outlook – are you using one of these tools, or another?  If you’re a Mac user, what tools are available for you? Feel free to chime in with comments, questions, alternate points of view, etc.

    And may your inbox frequently get to zero.

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    Do It Tomorrow

    Ok, I gotta say, when I saw Mark Forster’s book, “Do It Tomorrow” on the shelf I was drawn to it.  I thought it might be some best practices guide for how to procrastinate more effectively.  Well, it wasn’t that…but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

    do_it_tomorrow The full title is actually “Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management,” and it’s Forster’s straight-forward system to help you become more focused and productive (this is one of the GTD alternatives I mentioned a few weeks ago).

    One of the core concepts in Forster’s approach is to plan what you must do tomorrow, and create an action list to drive what you do.  This allows you to enter the day knowing what your targets are for the day.  Furthermore, you up your chances of success by treating this list as a “closed list” so you don’t keep adding things to it.  That doesn’t mean you don’t write down new tasks – it just means you don’t act on them until some future day. (Don’t worry – you can still deal with true emergencies).

    Principles of productivity

    Forster’s methods are based on 7 principles.  If I gave you a list of the principles here, it wouldn’t do them justice as they sound like things you may be familiar with (for example, the first on is “Have a clear vision”) and you might discount the value of this book without giving it a chance.  On the contrary, I found that Forster doesn’t just refactor the things you read in so many books about productivity – he adds his unique spin and pragmatism to each principle.

    The book takes you through each of the principles and provides some “what if” scenarios, techniques, affirmations, and exercises to help you adopt them effectively.

    These exercises help you identify the most relevant or valuable use of your time based on “litmus tests” you can apply during planning, as well as in-the-moment.  There are also a lot of techniques to help you deal with other people’s faulty approaches to time management so they don’t undermine your effectiveness.  I’ve tried a couple of these techniques since I read this book, and seen them work – pretty cool.  I’m definitely not a Jedi master but Forster’s techniques are sound.

    Simple can be good

    While some of Forster’s approaches sounded familiar (his explanation of “To Do vs. Will Do" sounded a lot like “Someday Maybe” from David Allen’s Getting Things Done, aka GTD), I found he always biases toward simple approaches.  This means you can quickly understand and apply Forster’s principles so you’ll know whether they work for you within a very short time.

    If you’re already familiar with GTD (but shying away for some reason), or you’re just looking to be more productive, this book would be a good addition to your library.  But if you want to order, Do it Tomorrow.

    If you want to read a chapter before committing, Mark’s made Chapter One of “Do It Tomorrow” available on his site.

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    Time for another audit

    Well, it's that time again - I'm going to do another "time audit" starting next week. As I've written in the past, I get a lot of value from periodically analyzing how I spend my time. Time audits help you better adjust your prioritization, balance, and productivity and I'm feeling like I'm due for one.

    Tools for tracking

    As usual, I have been looking for tools to make this easier and I've found one that I think is going to be really effective: it's from David Seah's "Printable CEO" toolset, and he calls it the "Emergent Time Tracker."

    At David's site, you can find several formats of this form that you can download for free, along with instruction on how to use the tracker and interpret / analyze your results. There is even an annotated example to get you going quickly (thumbnail at right), and a beta version of an online time tracking tool.

    Bren told me about another web-based tracking tool called "SlimTimer" that looks interesting.

    Give it time

    If you're going to do a time audit of your own, I recommend doing it for two weeks. Not only does this give you plenty of data to work with, I also find that my 2nd week is more complete because I'm more diligent about logging my activities as the habit starts to settle in.

    Taking another cue from David Seah, I've also just ordered a Kitchenaid timer. I think it'll help me be more conscious of how I use my time and help me with time boxing.

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    Memopal: An interesting online backup option

    As you may be aware (since I've written about Mozy in the past), I use Mozy to backup my home computers because I like the ease and peace of mind that comes from automatic, off-site backups.

    Recently, I've had the privilege of trying out another online backup product called "Memopal. " I've been running on one of my computers for a couple of months, and it has some interesting characteristics that really impressed me:

    • Memopal allows you to back up as many systems as you'd like for one fee, because you buy a 'pool' of storage rather than a licenser per computer.
      • You pay $49 per year for 150 Gigs of storage, $99 per year for 250 Gigs (they offer discounts for multiple years).
    • Memopal allows you to share files with other people through their service. This is a very handy way to share really large files with other people without clogging up email.
      • In Windows, you simply right-click on a file on your computer and select "Share" from the Memopal menu. There is similar functionality with their Mac client.
      • You are given the option to share the file for 1 day, 1 week, or unlimited (you can revoke sharing at any time).
    • Memopal has an impressive array of supported platforms: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Mac, Linux, and iPhone (yes, iPhone!)

    If you don't have a backup solution already, Memopal is a good one to consider and I've been happy with the performance, functionality and ease-of-use during the 2 months I've used the product.

    At this point, I'm not going to convert any of my other systems from Mozy to Memopal since I'm still quite happy with Mozy and it meets my needs (plus I still have over a year on my contract). However, I think Memopal is raising the bar on economical, online backups and when my Mozy contracts are up... who knows?

    Money-saving tip: Memopal is also currently offering an "Easter special" through April 25, that will save you 15%.

    So many choices - what do I do?

    Now - if you're trying to decide between Mozy and Memopal, I have some additional thoughts to consider:

    • Company
      • Backing
        • Mozy is part of megacorp EMC, while Memopal is an angel-funded startup. I'm not overly concerned about this because I have multiple types of backups, but make sure the company you pick is stable.
        • Incidentally, Mozy was a startup when I began using it and when it was acquired by EMC I had two reactions: 1) good, they aren't going anywhere, and 2) I hope EMC doesn't raise the price. [EMC did raise the price for business accounts, by the way.]
      • Company location
        • If this is an issue for you, make sure you understand it. Mozy is US-based, while Memopal is Rome-based.
    • Terms of use and policies
      • Both Mozy and Memopal are very clear about their policies, terms of use, etc. and both have very "user-friendly" policies. I've looked at other services where this was not the case.
    • How you'll use the product
      • If you regularly need to share large files with others, Memopal does that while Mozy does not.
      • Platform support may be a consideration - ensure that the platforms you intend to back up are supported (for example, Mozy will not back up Linux or iPhone).
    • Pricing subleties
      • If you are only backing up one system, Mozy and Memopal will cost you about the same per year. If, however, you are backing up multiple systems Memopal can be quite a bit cheaper.
      • The caveat here is that Memopal will charge you more if you outgrow the capacity you've purchased.
        • For example, if you are backing up 2 computers that (combined) have less than 150 Gigs of data, Memopal will be cheaper; if those same 2 computers require you to bump your storage up to 250 Gigs, the price will be the same (and Mozy provides unlimited storage).
      • Bottom line on pricing: Think about it and do the math before you jump in.
    • Try it before you buy it
      • Both Mozy and Memopal offer free trials - give them a test drive before you purchase to make sure you'll be happy.

    I hope this information is helpful in your decision - whichever one of these products you choose, I think you'll be happy with the choice.

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    David Allen: Making It All Work

    As you may know from my past writing here, I have been a follower of David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD)  methodology for many years.  It’s been a cycle of awesome productivity, interspersed with frustration and thrash.  Why?  I tend to get bored with repetition and systems, even when I see their value and GTD has been no different.  Well, to be fair, it’s been a bit different because I’ve noticed that I am able to stick with GTD much longer than many other processes.  But it’s still a bit of a struggle.

    The promise of a book

    MIAWcover When I heard about David Allen’s new book, “Making It All Work,” I preordered my copy pretty early.  I was intrigued by its premise (promise?):

    “Making It All Work” addresses: How to figure out where you are in life and what you need; How to be your own consultant and the CEO of your life; Moving from hope to trust in decision-making; When not to set goals; Harnessing intuition,spontaneity, and serendipity; And why life is like business and business is like life.

    So, now I’ve read the book – did it deliver?

    First, this book is not a substitute for the original.  It’s more like a sequel, building on the solid foundation of GTD and extending it with some of the lessons and new perspectives David has learned since his methodology has become a phenomenon.

    If you have read the first book, you’ll find some useful thought in this book from David himself, some of which may help clear any stumbling blocks you’ve encountered in your adoption of GTD.

    Some of the things I picked up in this book are simply shifts in perspective – like thinking of your lists and notes as “bookmarks” to help you go back to where you were later.  I don’t do anything differently, but I find I’m more likely to “bookmark” with my lists now, and I often treat the bookmarks more like pointers than dissertations (and pointers are quicker, also making it more likely I will do this).

    I was pleased to find that there are some new topics and methods in this book.  For example, the section dealing with Capturing has been expanded to include quite a bit of detail on brainstorming, processing, and clarification of what you’ve captured.  This section includes quite a collection of best practices.

    A clearer map

    David also includes quite a few mind maps that helped me, due to my visual thinking tendencies. There are maps showing how to make more effective lists, become more output-focused in your thinking, better cope with projects and reference materials, and quite a few other areas that often felt mysterious to me during my GTD journey.

    There is also some solid material about weekly reviews (which I knew about but certainly haven’t perfected).

    All of this converges in the book with the goal of helping you become better at managing your life by becoming better at GTD.  Of course, a book can’t provision good habits and consistent practice.  That’s the tough part.  And that’s where my trouble lives, I realize.

    If you’re committed to GTD, you’ll get a lot out of “Making It All Work.”  If you’re new to GTD start with the first GTD book, then pick this one up after you have the basics down.