Status categories for tasks

K

katebroughton

I recently read a time and project management book called "Getting
Things Done," and would like to implement some of the suggestions the
author makes re: categorizing tasks. For example, I would like to
identify a tasks as "in progress," or "deferred," rather than simply
checking it off once it is done. Any suggestions?
 
J

Jeff Zienowicz

I recently read a time and project management book called "Getting
Things Done," and would like to implement some of the suggestions the
author makes re: categorizing tasks. For example, I would like to
identify a tasks as "in progress," or "deferred," rather than simply
checking it off once it is done. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

There is a white paper on David Allen's site about implementing his Getting
Things Done system using Entourage; it's a $10 download.

In his document, he doesn't suggest anything for identifying tasks as you
describe, but bear in mind that you can apply multiple categories to a task
in Entourage, so you could categorize them per the GTD "contexts" and
additionally apply a category for "deferred" and "in progress."

Jeff
 
M

Michel Bintener

Entourage's task component does not allow you to mark a task as "in
progress"; it can either be checked or unchecked. You would have to use
categories instead, as they are based on colours and will allow you to see
at a glance which tasks belong to which category. So to answer your
question: no, I can't give you any good suggestions on this. Entourage was
not built with GTD in mind, which means that several aspects of the GTD
philosophy are quite difficult to accomplish, or at least require you to
think outside the box to get what you want.

PS: An excellent resource for GTD on the Mac is Merlin Mann's website 43
Folders <http://www.43folders.com/>. Merlin used Entourage for some time,
too, so there are a number of articles on that website that are well worth
reading.


I recently read a time and project management book called "Getting
Things Done," and would like to implement some of the suggestions the
author makes re: categorizing tasks. For example, I would like to
identify a tasks as "in progress," or "deferred," rather than simply
checking it off once it is done. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***
 
M

Michel Bintener

In addition to Jeff's advice: I've just done some research on 43folders.com,
and there's an entire article on how to implement GTD with Entourage's task
list:

<http://www.43folders.com/2005/02/14/using-categories-tasks-in-entourage/>


Entourage's task component does not allow you to mark a task as "in
progress"; it can either be checked or unchecked. You would have to use
categories instead, as they are based on colours and will allow you to see
at a glance which tasks belong to which category. So to answer your
question: no, I can't give you any good suggestions on this. Entourage was
not built with GTD in mind, which means that several aspects of the GTD
philosophy are quite difficult to accomplish, or at least require you to
think outside the box to get what you want.

PS: An excellent resource for GTD on the Mac is Merlin Mann's website 43
Folders <http://www.43folders.com/>. Merlin used Entourage for some time,
too, so there are a number of articles on that website that are well worth
reading.
Click to expand...

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***
 
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