What's New

Monday, October 7, 2002

Added today is the past-due PDF Version of Tip #14.

I'm aiming for the Palm syncing section to debut in one, or maximum two, days.

Best Regards.....Bill Kratz

Friday, October 4, 2002

Completed today were some housekeeping chores --

I've noticed, on the main DA GTD Forum and other posting boards, that many people like to post messages as "guests", without registering. So I've changed this site's Forum to give non-registered guests posting privileges.

We've exceeded the server capacity provided free by my ISP with a single URL. Not to worry. There's more free space available; I just have to divvy up the site a bit. Things will work the same, and you won't really see any difference. However, some of the links in upcoming additions to the site will be slightly more complicated to maintain, so please, let me know if you discover any broken links or other things not working properly.

Now back to work on the Palm syncing section.

Wednesday, October 2, 2002

Here's a preview of the next-in-line addition to the site -- Projects syncing with your Palm handheld. Lots of clues here.

Tuesday, October 1, 2002

Added today is the somewhat-delayed Tip #14, a third idea for your Weekly Review. This one is my favorite. I hope that some of you will take up my challenge to assemble some creative Weekly Review Home Pages, and send them to me. I'd like to see a gallery of everyone's efforts. Hah, maybe even a contest.

Best Regards.....Bill Kratz

Sunday, September 29, 2002

I promised completion of Tip #14 this weekend. However, a late-into-the-night dinner with neighbors (enjoying one of the last warm, dry weekend nights of the year here in the Pacific Northwest) caused me to renegotiate the deadline for that Next Action. There's a day or two delay at most.

Nevertheless, begun this weekend was another little reorganization of the site. If you wander around, you'll see the groundwork for new sections and a broader approach to the subject of GTD with Outlook.

Wishing all of you a week full of Getting Things Done!

Best Regards.....Bill Kratz

Friday, September 27, 2002

Coming this weekend -- Tip #14, the third Weekly Review idea. Here's a preview ...

Click here for a larger view

Thursday, September 26, 2002

The second Weekly Review idea arrived in Tip #13 today.

Tuesday, September 24, 2002

The Tip PDF's are caught up today with the addition of PDF versions of Tips #1 & #2. (Yes, I'll clean up the look of the web pages for Tips 1 through 6. However, for now I've renegotiated that effort from "Next Actions" to "Someday/Maybe".)

Sunday, September 22, 2002

Stay away from my window

Stay away from my back door too

Disconnect the telephone line

Relax baby and draw that blind

Rod Stewart

Okay, so Rod had something else in mind. Nevertheless, the principle is the same -- you have to set the stage ... prepare the scene. The right setting, scenery, and props can all help transport your mind to the right place for ... yes, the Weekly Review. So added today is Tip #12, the first of three ideas to heighten your focus on that most important weekly ritual.

Saturday, September 21, 2002

"To paint well is simply this: to put the right color in the right place."

Paul Klee, artist

Tip #11 is added today, giving some guidance on putting the right color in the right place to enhance your GTD efforts.

Enjoy.....Bill Kratz

Wednesday, September 18, 2002

Okay, for everyone who e-mailed me today, the answer is no. I'm not ready to spill the beans on the approach illustrated in the screenshot below. What I can tell you is that, like other techniques shown on this site, it's relatively simple for anyone to employ with just a little setup, tweaking and practice. However, as you might imagine, the methodology is just a bit more sophisticated than others that we've tackled. Consequently, before everyone goes thrashing around with it, I'd like to be certain that my introductory documentation is clear, concise, and accurate. So please be patient; a new section devoted to this technique will appear soon on this site.

Also today, I've added, as requested by quite a few, PDF versions of Tip #3 and Tip#4.

Tuesday, September 17, 2002

A Coming Attractions Teaser - A bit tongue-in-cheek (the teaser that is, not the coming attraction).

For all of you who feel there is void in your GTD life, a certain emptiness that could only be filled by outlining your Outlook items, here is a screenshot to give you hope.

Warning & Disclaimer for some of you (you know who you are) -- I am not responsible for any adverse reactions or medical problems due to hyper-excitement caused by studying this screenshot.

Best Regards.....Bill Kratz

Sunday, September 15, 2002

Tip #10 - Drag to Quickly Assign Categories is today's addition.

Saturday, September 14, 2002

There's a new GTD with Outlook link in the left sidebar. Try dragging (Click +Hold | Drag) it to your Outlook Bar (resize your browser window so that your Outlook bar is visible on your desktop at the same time as this page). Rename it if you would like. Click it for quick access to this site within Outlook. Hint -- there's a subtle, underlying tip here on how to use Outlook as your GTD Desktop.

Friday, September 13, 2002

Today's addition is the new site search function. It's in the sidebar just to the left. It works well, and is super fast. If you have a vague idea that you saw something about something on the site, this is probably the way to find it. Try it out. Please note the comment below the query input box regarding searching the Discussion Forum.

Best Regards.....Bill Kratz

Thursday, September 12, 2002

Added today is Tip #9 - Drag to Project Next Actions from Your Project Notes. With this tip we're done for now with creating Project Next Actions, and we'll move on to a few other tricks for creating Outlook items quickly -- useful for all your GTD Outlook items, not just Projects. Also coming in the next few days is a search function for the entire GTD with Outlook site. Look for it in the homepage sidebar.

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

Oops, in Tip #8, added to the site yesterday, I neglected to include an important setting. In order for Project Next Actions created by the drag-and-drop methods illustrated in the tip to link properly with the Project, the Project Folder's Address Book properties must be correct. Please see the Tip #8 - Addendum page for how to do this.

My apologies to anyone who encountered difficulties implementing the tip because of this oversight.

Best Regards.....Bill Kratz

Monday, September 9, 2002

Today's addition is Tip #8 - Another, More Powerful Way to Create Project Tasks

Sunday, September 8, 2002

Added today is Tip #7 - Four Basic Ways to Create Project Tasks. Coming next in Tips are some less obvious, but very effective techniques to use when creating Project Tasks or Next Actions.

Also don't forget to see additional posts in the Discussion Forum.

Saturday, September 7, 2002

If you are a returning visitor to this site, you'll immediately see some changes. This site began less than two weeks ago, with the idea of throwing up a few quick pages to demonstrate a few productivity ideas. Interest and inquiries from viewers quickly made it apparent that the site and its ideas warranted a more thorough and careful presentation. Hence the changes that you see:

A new, cleaner look that is more compatible with a variety of screen resolutions;

A growing list of tips for implementing the underlying concepts;

Introduction of PDF versions of the Tips;

A new Discussion Forum that is now operating at a decent speed.

In the coming weeks. I'll continue to revamp the site to reflect the interest expressed in a broader range of Outlook techniques for achieving GTD success. I hope you'll continue to visit the site -- signing up for the Watchit service is a good way to know when there's new content. And please visit and contribute to the GTD with Outlook Forum. Outlook is a program with such vast capabilities that we can all learn something about it from one another.

Best Regards to All GTD Practitioners and Other Visitors.....Bill Kratz