Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount work on your plate? Are you juggling too many looseend projects? Do you usually depart the office late, yet still leave important tasks uncompleted? Do you spend too much time combing through your Inbox looking for important e-mail? Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Acknowledgments	viii
Contents at a Glance	ix
Foreword	xxi
Introduction	1
It's All About Task and E-Mail Management... and Microsoft Outlook	1
A Common Symptom	1
Two Simple Problems	1
One Solution: Best Practices in Microsoft Outlook	2
You Currently Use Outlook, But Not for Tasks	3
Most People Use Only a Small Percentage of Outlook	3
A Summary of Benefits to Reading This Book	3
Truly Getting Your Workday Under Control	3
Who This Book Is For	4
Versions of Microsoft Outlook Covered	5
How This Book Is Organized	6
Overall Approach	6
Overview of the Chapters	7
The Journey Begins	8
Chapter 1 Gaining Workday Control	9
General Thoughts on a Disorganized Work Style	9
Finding a Solution Is Important	9
You Know the Symptoms	10
Unmanaged Tasks and E-Mail Derail Work Effectiveness	11
Ambiguity Is the Main Problem	11
Effective Task and E-Mail Management Is the Solution	11
Removing Ambiguity	11
An Improved Attitude	12
Tasks or Goals: Which Come First?	12
Tasks versus Appointments versus Projects versus Operations	13
Background Projects	14
Time Management versus Task Management	15
Processes versus Tools	15
Sources of Best Practices	16
Why Automated Systems Are Nearly Always Better	16
How Software Helps	16
Task Management on Your Work Computer	16
Going Mobile	17
Why Use Outlook as Your Central Command Post	19
Outlook Is Ubiquitous and Has All the Right Tools	19
Outlook Task Management Is Integrated with E-Mail	19
Outlook Is Easy to Use	20
Outlook Has Powerful Optional Features	20
Outlook Has Many Add-In Tools Available	20
Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003 Implement Tasks in Essentially the Same Way	21
Next: The Two Steps to Effective Task Management	22
Chapter 2 The Best Practices of Task and E-Mail Management	23
Best Practices	23
Best Practices Defined	23
Best Practices in Task and E-Mail Management	23
Eight Best Practices	24
Best Practice 1 Tracking All Tasks in Outlook Tasks System	24
Best Practice 2 Distinguishing Between Master and Daily Tasks	26
Best Practice 3 Using a Simple Prioritization System That Emphasizes Must-Do-Today Tasks	29
Best Practice 4 Writing Only Next Actions on Your Daily List	32
Best Practice 5 Daily and Weekly Planning	37
Best Practice 6 Converting E-Mails to Tasks	37
Best Practice 7 Filing E-Mails Using Outlook Categories	38
Best Practice 8 Delegating Tasks Effectively	38
Summary	39
Chapter 3 Configuring Outlook for Task Management	41
Why Most Users Are Unsuccessful with Outlook Task Management	41
Ineffective Initial Configuration	41
Some Outlook Task Basics	42
Outlook 2002 and 2003 Have Nearly Identical Task Capabilities	42
Navigating Through Outlook	43
Choosing Between the Major Folders	44
Viewing the TaskPad	46
Beyond Outlook Basics	48
Tasks Folder	48
Tasks Folder Views	51
Choosing Between Optional Task Views	51
More about the TaskPad	54
Summary of TaskPad versus Tasks Folder	55
Entering Tasks	56
Two Methods of Task Entry	56
Configuring Outlook for the First Five Best Practices	61
Creating the Master Tasks Custom View in Outlook 2002 and 2003	61
Configure the TaskPad	67
Creating the All Daily Tasks View	72
Summary	78
Chapter 4 Applying Task Management Best Practices in Outlook	79
1 Tracking All Tasks in Outlook Tasks System	79
Why Track Tasks in One Location?	79
Mobile Strategies: Meetings	80
Getting Started: Collecting Your Scattered Tasks	84
Collecting versus Working Tasks	86
2 Using a Master Tasks List Kept Separate from Your Daily Tasks List	87
Implementing in Outlook	87
Distinguishing Between Daily and Master Tasks	87
Entering Tasks	88
Using Date Fields	89
Other Fields in the Task Dialog Box	91
3 Using a Simple Prioritization System That Emphasizes Must-Do-Today Tasks	94
We All Prioritize	94
How to Set Priorities in Outlook	94
Other Ways to Represent Priority	95
Sorting on Priority	96
Must-Do-Today Tasks	96
Most Tasks Are Medium Priority	97
Prioritizing within the Medium Priority	97
Using Low Priority in Daily List	98
Priorities in the Master List	98
4 Writing Only Next Actions on Your Daily List	98
Recap of the Next Action Concept	98
Implementing in Outlook	99
Identify Miniprojects and Place Them on Your Master List	100
Labeling Miniprojects	101
Using the Text Box to Brainstorm Next Actions and Final Outcomes	101
Generating Additional Next Actions	102
Managing Larger Projects	102
Summary	104
Review of Key Learnings	105
Next Steps	105
Chapter 5 Planning and Working Your Tasks in Outlook	107
Working Your Tasks	107
The Value of the System	107
Planning Your Tasks So You Can Work Them Well	108
Daily Planning	108
Rule Number 1: Keep Your Daily List Short	108
Rationalize and Shorten Your Daily List	111
What This Does for You: Perfect Prioritization and Planning	113
Don't Skip or Postpone This Daily Planning	114
Balancing Importance	115
Work Your Must-Do-Today Tasks	115
Prioritizing within Your Medium (Normal) Level Tasks	115
Complete Your Planning before Working Your Tasks	117
Weekly Planning	118
How to Do Weekly Planning	118
Review of Projects and Miniprojects during Weekly Planning	118
Review of Separately Managed Projects	119
Individual Tasks Floating in the Master List	119
Review Your Ideas List	120
Review Your Goals	120
Review Daily List	120
Look Ahead on Your All Daily Tasks List	121
Time Management: Finding Time to Work on Tasks	121
Setting General "Tasks" Appointments	122
Using Task Time Effectively	122
Time Mapping	122
Giving Yourself Priority	123
Specific Task Appointments	124
Summary	125
Review of Key Learnings	126
Next Steps	126
Chapter 6 Converting E-Mail to Tasks and Using Workflows	127
Getting Your Inbox Under Control	127
The Problems with an Out-of-Control E-Mail System	127
Most People Know Their E-Mail Is Out of Control	128
Best Practices and Workflows	129
Converting E-Mails to Outlook Tasks	131
The Most Important Best Practice	131
Why This Works So Well	131
Methods of Converting E-Mails to Tasks	133
Use of Follow-Up Flag Tool	138
Recommended E-Mail Processing Workflow	139
Thoughts about the Workflow	140
Summary	144
Review of Key Learnings	145
Next Steps	145
Chapter 7 Filing Your E-Mail Using Outlook Categories	147
Filing Your E-Mail	147
Clearing Your Inbox	147
Filing by Topic Is Optional	148
Filing in Multiple Folders: Not My Preferred Solution	148
Problems with Filing in Multiple Outlook Folders	149
Better Outlook Filing Solution: Using Outlook Categories	150
Five Steps to Implementing an E-Mail Filing System	151
E-Mail Filing Step One: Using Outlook Folders	153
Showing Outlook Folders	153
Showing Folders in Outlook 2002	153
Showing Folders in Outlook 2003	154
Multiple Folder Lists in Outlook 2003	154
Shortcuts in Outlook 2003	155
E-Mail Filing Step Two: Creating a New Personal Folder	156
How to Create a New Personal Folder	156
Create a Saved Sent Mail Folder	158
If Filing in Bulk, Stop Here	158
E-Mail Filing Step Three: Assigning Categories to E-Mail	158
Adding the Categories Column	159
Deciding on the Categories List	159
Creating and Assigning Categories in the E-Mail Inbox List View	160
Assigning Categories by Dragging and Dropping	160
Automatic Assigning of Categories	162
E-Mail Filing Step Four: Finding Your Mail Once Filed, Using Show in Groups	162
In Outlook 2003 You Have a Choice	163
Show in Groups	164
Manually Configuring Show in Groups in Outlook 2003	167
Creating a Saved Show in Groups View in Outlook 2003	169
Creating a Saved Show in Groups in Outlook 2002	172
Showing Custom (and Default) E-Mail Views	175
E-Mail Filing Step Five: Finding Your Filed Mail Using Search Folders (Outlook 2003 Only)	178
Creating Search Folders	179
Deleting Search Folders and Mail inside Search Folders	183
Thoughts on Using Show in Groups and Search Folders	183
Show in Groups versus Search Folders	183
Tips on Using Categories	184
Transitioning	184
Should You Categorize Everything?	185
Integrating Categorization into Workflow: Batch Processing	185
Speeding up Category Assignments	186
Summary	188
Review of Key Learnings	188
Next Steps
Chapter 8 Outlook-Based Delegation	189
The Eighth Best Practice	189
Successful Delegation	189
The Task Delegation Approach	190
Identify and Annotate a Task for Delegation	190
Gaining Buy-In for the Task	191
Methods of Follow-Up and Buy-In	192
Summary	197
Review of Key Learnings	197
Next Steps	197
Chapter 9 Advanced Topics	199
Doing the Math on Your Workweek	199
The Problem	199
The Solution	201
Setting Up Your "This Week's Tasks" View for Doing the Math	203
Cleaning Up Your Task Time	205
Inefficient Task Time	205
Avoiding Interruptions	206
Identifying Deliverables	206
Scheduling Tasks versus General Task Time	208
Working Your Goals and Roles	209
Putting Goals in Your Master List	209
Other Planning Perspectives	210
Auto-Categorize Incoming E-Mail, Using Outlook Rules	211
Initiating a New Rule	212
Setting the Criteria	214
Setting the Action	216
Finalizing and Saving the Rule	217
Changing or Deleting Category Names	219
Changing a Category Name in Your Master List and Collection	219
Dealing with Categories in Mail Sent to You	220
Deleting a Category Name	220
Managing Your TaskPad	221
Managing the Sort Order of Your Outlook TaskPad	221
How to Set Priorities on Tasks with Hard Due Dates	223
Viewing Recently Completed Tasks	223
Status Reports	224
Purging Completed Tasks from Your Task Collection	230
Manually Purging Tasks	230
Automatically Purging Tasks	230
Add-In Tools for Outlook	230
FranklinCovey PlanPlus	230
Netcentric's Getting Things Done Add-In for Outlook	231
Einstein Technologies Tablet Enhancements for Outlook	231
Other Task Management Software Besides Outlook?	231
Add-In Software Not Needed	231
Wrapping Up	232
Appendix A Understanding Outlook Folders	233
Folders Explained	233
Viewing All Folders	234
Four Major "Buckets" in Outlook	235
Mailbox (Exchange Server)	237
Determining If Your Outlook Uses an Exchange Server	237
Personal Folders	238
Personal Folders Explained	238
How to Set Up Personal Folders	241
Considerations When Adding a Personal Folders Group	242
Creating the Personal Folders File: The New Personal Folders Group	243
Adding Folders within the Personal Folders Groups	246
Offline Access to Outlook Data	247
Offline Access for Internet Mail Users	247
Offline Access for Exchange Users	248
Outlook Offline Folders (.ost)	248
Cached Exchange Mode for Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003	249
Configuring Outlook Offline Folders (.ost)	250
Detailed Offline Folders Configuration Steps	250
Appendix B Using Outlook AutoArchive	253
The Outlook Archive Capability	253
Should You Use Outlook AutoArchive?	253
Keeping Your Processed Mail Folder Small	254
Turning Off Outlook AutoArchive Completely	256
Checking Outlook Folder Sizes	257
Steps to Check Folder Size	258
Setting Up AutoArchive Intelligently	259
A Determine the "Older Than" Setting	259
B Set Up and Configure AutoArchive	261
C Do the First Archive and Fine-Tune Your Settings	265
D Periodic Archive File Swap	269
Backing Up Your Archive Files	271
Wrapping Up AutoArchive	271
Using AutoArchive to Keep the Exchange Mailbox Small	272
Emptying the Deleted Items Folder	272
Cleaning Out Old Sent Mail	272
Purging Old Completed Tasks	273
Calendar	274
Appendix C Resources	275
Book Website	275
Some Useful Books	275
Software Links	276
Clip-Out Page: The Eight Best Practices of Task and E-Mail Management	277
Clip-Out Page: The Total Workday Control E-Mail Workflow	279
Index	281

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.