lightbulb! > Entourage + Tickler Folder, question about "projects"
Stephen Schaefer
hell of a lot better than Entourage (no offense En'tage enthusiasts).
But until Apple gets it's act together and really puts up a fight in
gluing those apps together (with a better task/note interface), I
think I just found another reason to stick with Entourage.
While just blindly using En'tage the best I can for GTD (and thanks to
all who have helped with that in every way), I've been thinking of
better ways to "represent" the Tickler folder. I hate how Notes can't
have reminders and so I would just (reluctantly) create a task for
each thing for ticklers even though that's not how I conceive of them
(I know, it doens't necessarily matter, but they aren't "tasks" to me,
so it just seems un-elegant(?)). So, just a minute ago, while
throwing a random idea into En'tage, I realized that if I added a
note, then selected Link > link to new > task, I could create a task
just called "<whatever date>" tickler (or whatever one wanted to call
it), set the reminder on that, and categorize it under @TicklerFolder
(what I use). This leaves the note to be categorized the way I want
to be and I can link as many Notes to that Tickler as I want.
So that's the idea I had...I know, not earth-shattering, but I figured
I'd post it for general consumption/inspiration.
I have question as well. Given that GTD conceptualizes "projects" as
anything that takes more than one task, thus essentially redefining
the term for many people, how do you all use the "Projects" section of
En'tage 2004 (admittedly one of the reasons I bought Office 2004,
along with Word's note-taking view)? Maybe I have to re-read the
book, but what do you call over-arching things that are made up of
many GTD "projects"?
e.g., I'm planning on applying to Teach for America for next year's
corps. This involves many tasks, all of which can be grouped together
as multi-step "projects" in the GTD system (i.e., get help from the
Career Development Center > task 1, 2, 3...). How do you all treat
"Applying to Teach for America"? A meta-project? This, for me, would
be nested within the "What the hell am I going to do with my life next
year" project, which would be a meta-meta project...
The problem for En'tage, and why this is I guess relevant at all, is
that creating a "project" in the Project Center takes several steps,
so it seems kinda silly to create them for anything other than
meta-projects.
Anyone getting where I'm coming from here? Merlin - you're an En'tage
guy, what's your take?
sps
p.s., I tend towards philosophizing and picking apart systems of
thought - English/Psych BA, PHIL minor - and I really believe it's
important to do that as an educator...I apologize for taking up a lot
of your web-surfing time, but if you made it this far, kudos to you!
Pitch
one. I use E'rage 2004, and it's the center of my entire business and
life. I rely heavily on Office Notifications, and write up a new ON for
virtually everything that I need to do in the future. From "Return
Bob's phone call in 30 minutes" to "Meet with Sue" tomorrow at 8am, to
"Pay quarterly taxes", to "Wed date night with wife". I mean
*everything*.
I rely heavily on the Reminder check box. I check it off on 100% of all
my reminders (Reminders being everything that shows up on the Office
Notification pop up window). I will set it to anywhere between 1 minute
beforehand for stuff like phone calls, to 6 months ahead (you need to
put in "180 days" since days is its largest unit of measure) for "Start
Planning the DVD movie project).
Here's exactly how I do it: I'm typing away in some other program:
** I suddenly get a to-do that I need to handle at some point in the
future.
** I Command-tab to Entourage; (I use LiteSwitch, a more elegant
version of Apple's switcher, but Apple's works fine and uses the same
keyboard shortcut)
** I hit Command-3, which brings up the Calendar view.
** I hit Command-N, which brings up a new Calendar Event (which is
really a "Reminder")
** I fill out the Subject, and then hit the little Calendar icon next
to the *START* date, and select the date. I never mess with the End
date. I then set the amount of Reminder time that I want for advanced
notice. Again, for stuff like "Call Bob", it's 1 minute. For stuff like
"Get ready for meeting at 8am", it's like 30 minutes. Whatever amount
of time I need to prepare to accomplish the thing.
I didn't quite grasp how your insight worked, Stephen, but if I
understand it correctly, you too are looking for a more elegant way
record and manage your Ticklers... and I'm presuming by "tickler" you
mean the "Reminders" that I described above.
(by the way, I'd love to hear a more detailed explanation of what you
mean, and some real life examples, Stephen. I think you're on to
something, I just need it spelled out clearer).
I have yet to figure out how to use the Project Center. Actually, I
have yet to find *anyone* who is really, honestly using this feature,
and I visit every Entourage-centric site on the web, and have many
entrepreneurial friends who use it. I keep wanting to use it, because I
have fairly complex projects, but I find it such an awkward feature. I
keep hoping someone does for E'rage Projects what Ethan Schoonover has
done for OmniOutliner (http://www.kinkless.com). I really want to
create a better GTD system using Entourage, instead of adding one more
piece of software to the GTD puzzle. I think Entourage 2004 can handle
it, it's just that I haven't been able to get my mind around it yet.
I also don't use Notes or Tasks like I think they could be used. Maybe
I don't need them. The above All Reminders in the Calender Method™
may be all I need.
Scott
Stephen Schaefer wrote:>
> ...So, just a minute ago, while
> throwing a random idea into En'tage, I realized that if I added a
> note, then selected Link > link to new > task, I could create a task
> just called "<whatever date>" tickler (or whatever one wanted to call
> it), set the reminder on that, and categorize it under @TicklerFolder
> (what I use). This leaves the note to be categorized the way I want
> to be and I can link as many Notes to that Tickler as I want. ...