Outlook and GTD (Review)

As a GTD follower, I am a big user of lists.  I have lists of what to do to winterize my boat and trailer, a list of consumables my computer needs, a list for commonly replaced parts of my vehicle that I do myself,  basically I have a list for anything that might need to be referenced later.  Most of these lists are stored as notes in Outlook so I have them on my Blackberry when I need them, as it syncs with Outlook every time I plug it in.  (If only there was a OneNote version for Blackberry….)

However I found for many small, repeating projects, like the weekly review, I needed a checklist to ensure I had completed everything, but to have that many tasks at that level of detail was overwhelming when it was always showing.  (A collapsible, hierarchical task list native to Outlook would help… Microsoft…..Anyone?)  In fact I found that when the list was too full , I avoided even turning on my computer unless I really had to, thus making the whole system fail because I no longer trusted that the system could keep me on track.

I experimented with putting the checklists first in Word and then in OneNote and linking a task to it but I found it too much hassle to print the check list off and manually check everything off as it was done.  (Most of the tasks were done on the computer and it broke my working rhythm.) If I left the list completely digital, I either had to copy it to a new page before I started it (which I forgot to do on a regular basis) or I had to go back and un-check all the tasks when I was done.  Either solution felt a kludge.

So back to net I went where I found an article by Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, that detailed how to put a macro in Outlook that would generate any number of tasks when it was run.  Furthermore, it could assign a category and a due date, so if I got called away in middle of processing, I could easily see which tasks needed to be done without manually opening every task up and setting it myself.  I am a big fan of automating repetitive tasks in order to simplify my life as much as possible, so this was right up my alley. 

Unfortunately, I am unable to find a current link to Mr. Hyatt’s post, so with his permission, I am attempting to recreate his instructions here.  His blog can be found here and there are a number of helpful and interesting reads there.  For what I get right in this post, thank him, and any mistakes that occur are mine to accept.

This is the macro I am currently using

____________________________________________________________________________________

Sub WeeklyReview()

    ' Declare the variables:
    Dim oMyTaskItem As TaskItem

    On Error GoTo WeeklyReview_Error

    'Create Weekly Review Task #1:
    Set oMyTaskItem = Application.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
    oMyTaskItem.Subject = " 1.  Clean Office and Gather Inboxes"
    oMyTaskItem.Categories = "@ Computer"
    oMyTaskItem.StartDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.DueDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.Save

    'Create Weekly Review Task #2:
    Set oMyTaskItem = Application.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
    oMyTaskItem.Subject = " 2.  Mind Sweep"
    oMyTaskItem.Categories = "@ Computer"
    oMyTaskItem.StartDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.DueDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.Save

    'Create Weekly Review Task #3:
    Set oMyTaskItem = Application.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
    oMyTaskItem.Subject = " 3.  Process Inboxes"
    oMyTaskItem.Categories = "@ Computer"
    oMyTaskItem.StartDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.DueDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.Save

    'Create Weekly Review Task #4:
    Set oMyTaskItem = Application.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
    oMyTaskItem.Subject = " 4.  Review Calendar "
    oMyTaskItem.Categories = "@ Computer"
    oMyTaskItem.StartDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.DueDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.Save

    'Create Weekly Review Task #5:
    Set oMyTaskItem = Application.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
    oMyTaskItem.Subject = " 5.  Review Current Projects"
    oMyTaskItem.Categories = "@ Computer"
    oMyTaskItem.StartDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.DueDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.Save

    'Create Weekly Review Task #6:
    Set oMyTaskItem = Application.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
    oMyTaskItem.Subject = " 6.  Review @Waiting For list"
    oMyTaskItem.Categories = "@ Computer"
    oMyTaskItem.StartDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.DueDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.Save

    'Create Weekly Review Task #7:
    Set oMyTaskItem = Application.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
    oMyTaskItem.Subject = " 7.  Review Someday/Maybe for Project Development"
    oMyTaskItem.Categories = "@ Computer"
    oMyTaskItem.StartDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.DueDate = Date
    oMyTaskItem.Save

    Set oMyTaskItem = Nothing

   On Error GoTo 0
   Exit Sub

WeeklyReview_Error:

    MsgBox "Error " & Err.Number & " (" & Err.Description & ") in procedure WeeklyReview of Module Utilities"
End Sub

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You can easily add or remove tasks as you see fit just by copying and pasting more lines between the last “oMyTaskItem.Save” and “Set oMyTaskItem=Nothing”

You can also change the Categories if you need to.  As I am not a programmer I am not sure if the date could be changed  programmatically but there are numerous Outlook programming sites out there, the one I looked at the most was Sue Moshers’s site outlookcode.com.  The forum is very friendly and helpful. (The geek in me is always looking for more ways to automate Outlook!)

Also, please note that there is a space between the first quote and the task number in each “oMyTaskItem.Subject=” line.  This is because if there wasn’t, and the number of tasks was larger than 9, Outlook would sort them by the first digit in the to do list.  Thus you would see task 1 then 10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,2,20,21 and so on.  It wasn’t an issue for this list as there is only seven tasks, but some of my work tasks are larger and it drove me nuts to have them out of order.

The instructions on how to add a macro to Outlook, and to create a button for easy access are posted here, so I won’t get in to any detail.  If there are any questions I am more than happy to try and answer them, but as I mentioned earlier, I am not a programmer, or a “power user” so I may not be the most qualified to help.

So, to sum up my work flow, I have a recurring Appointment set for Friday evening called “Weekly Review.”  When the time comes,I hit the Macro button named “Generate Weekly Review” and I have a list of tasks added to my To Do list.  I do them in sequence, check them off as they are finished, and my work is done.

My next post may be delayed.  Between my small business, university classes, and family responsibilities, I’m finding the I need to prioritize my commitments to be sure I succeed at them all.

Hmmmmm, maybe when I return that will be the topic of my next post, how I prioritize things.