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"Effective people make lists." I don't remember where I heard it from, but I've certainly found it to be true, in particular for the To Do list.
The greatest challenge is filtering the list so that you can focus on what you need to do first. Quite often, a task will have a dependency such that
you can't act on it until later. I've found that using Microsoft Outlook synchronized with a Pocket PC is an effective way to manage the To Do list.
To use the task list in Outlook most effectively, some up-front customization is necessary.
The result is that Outlook normally will display only tasks that are not completed and that you are able to start on.
In addition, it is sometimes useful to see what is ahead, so the customization will also show (less prominently) tasks coming up in the next week.
The instructions are for Outlook 2003, but other versions are similar. They assume a basic familiarity with Outlook.
To use your customized view effectively, follow these guidelines:
- Don't bother with statuses other than Not Started and Completed. The other statuses are more useful when multiple people collaborate, but you know where you're at. Probably for that very reason, Outlook's Complete column and the Pocket PC only support these two values.
Use Start Date. Often, you know you can't act on a task until a certain date; so set the Start Date.
One instance where this applies is when you ask someone to do something for you—someone maybe not as organized as you are now. :-)
Set the Start Date to when you expect the other person to report to you. The reason for using Start Date here rather than Due Date is to filter out the task while you have no action.
If the person doesn't respond by the Start Date, the task will become active for you, as you now have the action to follow up.
If there is a Start Date, Outlook requires a Due Date, even if a task doesn't really have one; in this case I recommend choosing a semi-arbitrary, soft due date.
- Tip: You can type relative date phrases into either Start Date or Due Date to avoid time using the calendar. Examples: next week, 3 weeks, 2 days.
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Instructions
- Select the Active Tasks view.
- Open the Customize View dialog box (View > Arrange By > Current View > Customize Current View).
- Click Filter and then the Advanced tab, remove all existing criteria, and add the following criteria:
| Field | Condition | Value
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|---|
| Complete | equals | No
| | Start Date | does not exist |
| | Start Date | on or before | 1 week
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- Click Automatic Formatting and add the following rule:
| Name | Font | Condition
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|---|
| Upcoming | Set color to silver | Click the Advanced tab and enter the following criteria
| Field | Condition | Value
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|---|
| Start Date | on or after | tomorrow
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- Click Sort and enter the following order:
| Field | Order
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|---|
| Priority | Descending
| | Start Date | Ascending
| | Modified | Descending
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- Click Fields and show the following fields:
| Field
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|---|
| Icon
| | Priority
| | Attachment
| | Complete
| | Subject
| | Start Date
| | Due Date
| | Categories
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- From the Outlook main menu, turn on the right reading pane (View > Reading Pane > Right).
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