A very simple way to customize outlook to make it GTD friendly !
Since 1 year now I use GTD principles to manage my emails and achieve the ultimate goal :** inbox 0**.
I've described this in a previous post . The idea is quite simple, based on 5 folders :
0 - Inbox: where all emails come when I receive them 1 - Action: email for which an action from me is needed 1 - Read / Review: emails that with stuff I need to read / review< **2 - Waiting for **: emails for which I'm waiting an action from someone else 3 - Done: emails processed, keeped for archive.
For more detail on how I use these folders, you can refer to the initial post.
The most important thing is to be able to empty the inbox and file emails in the proper folder in a very efficient way, as fast as possible. To make it really very easy for me I've done some customisations of my outlook client to implement 4 customs buttons.
When I open an email, the 4 buttons are accessible.
Their function is very simple :
* "Done" files the mail in the "3- Done" folder
* "Action" files the email in the "1-Action folder"
* "Read" files the email in the "1- Read / Review folder"
* "Waiting for" files the email in the "2- Waiting for email"
Here's a quick guide to implement these buttons in your outlook.
First, you need to create 4 macros : MoveDone(), MoveAction(), MoveRead(), MoveWaitingFor(). Here's the source code template. Just use it 4 times, replacing the name and the macro and the name of the folder.
To finish, you need to add the button, this is very easy :
* Just open an existing email
* Right click in the toolbar then "Customize"
* In the popup, chosse "Macro". You should see the 4 macros you have created.
* Then drag and drop macro 1 by 1 from the pop up to the email tool bar.
* Here're the 4 buttons !
Now, just go to your full inbox, open the first email, and start to clean !
