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Open in new tab OUTLOOK®
2013/2016
David Allen CompanySetup Guide TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOCUS OF THIS GUIDE
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THIS GUIDE
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FOCUS OF THIS GUIDE
UNDERSTANDING THE GTD® BEST PRACTICES
AN OVERVIEW OF THE KEY BEST PRACTICES OF THE GTD METHODOLOGY
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WHAT IS GTD?
GTD’S FIVE STEPS OF MASTERING WORKFLOW
THREE STAGES TO INTEGRATING GTD
THE GTD WORKFLOW MAP
APPLYING GTD TO OUTLOOK®
SETTING UP OUTLOOK FOR GTD
USING TASKS
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SETTING UP LISTS
CUSTOMIZING VIEWS
HOW VIEWS ARE DIFFERENT
WHAT TO EXPECT IN MICROSOFT TO-DO
WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE DESKTOP BROWSER VERSION OF OUTLOOK
CLEANING UP OUTLOOK
ADDING ITEMS TO YOUR LISTS
WHICH FEATURES TO USE IN THE TASKS WINDOW
EXPLANATION OF THE COMMON GTD LISTS
LINKING PROJECTS TO THEIR RELATED ACTIONS
(CONTINUED)
© 2013, 2016, 2018 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 816-LTR 17AUG2018 gettingthingsdone.com
GTD & OUTLOOK 2013/2016 | SETUP GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED)
USING TASKS (CONTINUED)
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THE GTD WEEKLY REVIEW®
MOVING ITEMS BETWEEN LISTS
CUSTOMIZING OUTLOOK
REVIEWING YOUR LISTS
USING TIMING FEATURES
DELEGATING THROUGH OUTLOOK
MARKING ITEMS COMPLETE
USING TASKS SHORTCUT KEYS
EMAIL
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DEALING WITH BACKLOG
GETTING YOUR INBOX TO ZERO
TWO OPTIONS FOR MANAGING ACTIONABLE EMAIL
SETTING UP A WAITING FOR RULE
TURNING OFF NEW MAIL NOTIFICATIONS
USING MAIL SHORTCUT KEYS
CALENDAR
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(CONTINUED)
WHAT BELONGS ON YOUR CALENDAR
REVIEWING YOUR CALENDAR
TURNING OFF REMINDERS
SEEING DUE TASKS
USING CALENDAR SHORTCUT KEYS
© 2013, 2016, 2018 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 816-LTR 17AUG2018 gettingthingsdone.com
GTD & OUTLOOK 2013/2016 | SETUP GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED)
REFERENCE
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OPTIONS FOR ORGANIZING REFERENCE
SOME GREAT CATEGORIES AND LISTS
USING TASKS FOR REFERENCE
USING NOTES FOR REFERENCE
USING REFERENCE SHORTCUT KEYS
SHORTCUT KEYS
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QUICK LIST OF OUTLOOK SHORTCUT KEYS
CONCLUSION
FINAL THOUGHTS AND NEXT STEPS
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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APPENDIX
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ALTERNATE METHOD FOR SETTING UP TASKS
CONFIGURING VIEWS
SETTING UP YOUR LISTS
CREATING A NEW TASK
USING SHORTCUT KEYS WITH ALTERNATE METHOD
© 2013, 2016, 2018 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 816-LTR 17AUG2018 gettingthingsdone.com
GTD & OUTLOOK 2013/2016 | SETUP GUIDE FOCUS OF THIS GUIDE
Our focus with this guide is to show you how to setup Outlook® 2013 or 2016 on your desktop for your GTD
workflow so that you can view your Tasks in both the Microsoft To-Do application on your mobile device and
the desktop browser version Outlook (also called Office 365 version of Outlook and Outlook.com). Up until now,
viewing Outlook Tasks on a mobile device, particularly the iPhone, has been a challenging endeavor. With the
release of To-Do, viewing Tasks on your mobile device is easier, with a very specific configuration of Tasks on
your desktop, as we will instruct you. This guide focuses on the methods we have found work well for GTD for
a wide range of people.
This new guide recommends setting up Tasks in a different way than our previous Outlook Guides, in order
to support viewing Tasks in To-Do. We’ve also included instructions in the appendix for setting up Tasks like
we describe in previous guides, using the Master Category list, if using To-Do is of no interest to you, you have
another way to sync, or you have already set up Tasks based on our previous guides and want to stay with that
method. But we do think this new way of setting up Task lists as folders, as described in the majority of the
Guide, is the best way to configure Tasks, regardless of whether you plan to sync.
This guide covers these key areas of Outlook for your GTD workflow: Email, Calendar, Tasks, and Notes. If you
are new to Outlook, this guide should be an excellent starting point for you to build a solid GTD foundation for
optimizing your productivity using the built-in features. If you already have an established system in Outlook,
use this guide as an opportunity to fine-tune or simplify, if you have found you’ve underused or overbuilt your
setup. Or, if you have already created a system in Outlook following one of our previous guides and now want
to view Tasks in the To-Do app on your mobile device, this will be an opportunity to reconfigure your Tasks
setup to make that work.
We are aware that there are many features and ways to configure your system in Outlook. This is not a technical
guide, nor will it cover all the instructions for how to use Outlook. We will talk about what to sync, but not how
to sync, as there are so many variables for this. Additionally, Microsoft currently only supports synchronizing
Outlook to To-Do through Exchange online accounts. The guide is based on the latest version of Outlook 2016
on the Windows desktop, as of July 2018. If you are using an earlier version of Outlook, particularly Outlook
2013, some of the instructions and screenshots will be different for you. But the 2013 and 2016 versions are
close enough in functionality that this will still serve as an excellent tool for you.
Whatever configuration you choose in tools like Outlook,
be careful not to overcomplicate it to the point where you
can only maintain it when you are at your peak of mental
clarity. It’s too easy to have a complicated system fall apart
when you’re not at your best. Your GTD tools should be
complex enough to manage your workflow, but simple enough
that if you were sick in bed with the flu, you could still easily
maintain them.
OK…let’s get started!
Be careful not to overcomplicate your
systems to the point where you can
only maintain them when you are
at your peak of mental clarity.
© 2013, 2016, 2018 David Allen Company. All rights reserved. 816-LTR 17AUG2018 gettingthingsdone.com
FOCUS OF THIS GUIDE
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GTD & OUTLOOK 2013/2016 | SETUP GUIDE