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Using "Company" as alternative field for indicating Projects in your Outlook GTD System
In this Forum Managing Projects in Outlook and here (for Outlook 2007) I showed you how to set up a system for managing larger amounts of Projects in Outlook.
One of the advantages with that is that you get different overviews for Projects versus @Categories (Next Actions) in different panes.
Another, maybe even simpler way of achieving this is using the field "Company" in your Tasks!
By adding a Project Name in the "Company" Field, which you’ll find in Details of your Task (or any other field that suits you for that matter), you have the possibility then to group by that field and see all you Project Related Tasks nicely grouped together, independent of which @Category (Next Action) they belong to.
Of course, by NOT adding an @Category, you will have a Project related Task that you may use for your Project Plans (which I also would write in the Description). If you also add a Due Date to this one, you can use that as a description for when the whole Project is due. Thus you will see all Tasks nicely sorted by Due Date beneath the Project Plan and the Project Due Date (End) within the grouping for the Project.
While working in your Outlook GTD System, I recommend opening two windows for you Tasks and use one showing Group by @Category and the other for group by “Company”. Thus by switching between the two, you will see all that matters to you in full view!
Furthermore, by using any other field of choice in the view Details within your Tasks, which also is possible to Group by, you can create other criteria’s to Group by, such as a criteria for “Goals” or “Areas of Responsibility” or for all you Sally McGee fans out there, “SMO”. In the same way as described above for Projects’, you now have another view to Group by for those “higher altitudes of Life and Planning”.
Göran Askeljung is a GTD Coach and Trainer, based in Vienna, Austria
One of the advantages with that is that you get different overviews for Projects versus @Categories (Next Actions) in different panes.
Another, maybe even simpler way of achieving this is using the field "Company" in your Tasks!
By adding a Project Name in the "Company" Field, which you’ll find in Details of your Task (or any other field that suits you for that matter), you have the possibility then to group by that field and see all you Project Related Tasks nicely grouped together, independent of which @Category (Next Action) they belong to.
Of course, by NOT adding an @Category, you will have a Project related Task that you may use for your Project Plans (which I also would write in the Description). If you also add a Due Date to this one, you can use that as a description for when the whole Project is due. Thus you will see all Tasks nicely sorted by Due Date beneath the Project Plan and the Project Due Date (End) within the grouping for the Project.
While working in your Outlook GTD System, I recommend opening two windows for you Tasks and use one showing Group by @Category and the other for group by “Company”. Thus by switching between the two, you will see all that matters to you in full view!
Furthermore, by using any other field of choice in the view Details within your Tasks, which also is possible to Group by, you can create other criteria’s to Group by, such as a criteria for “Goals” or “Areas of Responsibility” or for all you Sally McGee fans out there, “SMO”. In the same way as described above for Projects’, you now have another view to Group by for those “higher altitudes of Life and Planning”.
Göran Askeljung is a GTD Coach and Trainer, based in Vienna, Austria
Tags: GTD, Outlook, ProWork, Projects
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