Off Topic: a Super Note-Taking Stylus for the iPad
March 19, 2012
This is definitely off my normal range of topics but it’s something I’m passionate about and it could be of use to many of you. I’ve finally found a stylus for the iPad that I can take good accurate ink notes with, and I’m really excited about it. I feel taking good notes should be a part of any business skill set, and this stylus (called the Jot Pro) in my mind finally makes doing that on an iPad practical.
Background: Tablet PC’s were good at this
Many of you may know that I wrote a book in 2004 about the Tablet PC, and it became the best-selling book about the Tablet PC at that time. I don’t recommend you buy it now, it’s horribly out of date and mostly out of print, but I’ve been watching the tablet space closely since then. One of the things I liked best about the Tablet PC, and wrote a lot about, was using it to take good ink notes right on the screen. I did that all the time in business meetings and used it when brainstorming.
iPad: not so much
So when the iPad came out, I wasn’t happy that it was fairly impractical for electronic ink notes. Sure, you could write with your finger tip. And later some companies released styluses that sported broad foam tips that imitated a fingertip. But using those, due to the unwieldy size of the tip, I always ended up creating huge lettering—the size of which, in my mind, made normal note taking almost impossible. Some people could do it more precisely, but it never worked for me. After trying 2 or 3 new and improved models that still did not meet my needs, I abandoned that quest.
Jot Pro Stylus
That’s why I’m so excited about the new stylus that came out a few months ago called the Jot Pro. Read the rest of this entry »
Can You Use Gmail instead of Outlook With MYN or 1MTD?
March 10, 2012
I get this question periodically: Can you use Gmail with MYN or 1MTD? The answer is YES.
Often this question is from people migrating from Outlook. If you do leave Outlook I recommend you use ToodleDo for tasks. My 1MTD book talks about how to configure and use it for MYN (get a free PDF of that book here). Don’t try to use the Gmail tasks system for MYN—not enough features (there are ways to use Gmail tasks for 1MTD, I’ll write them up someday, but they offer no upgrade path to MYN, so I’d avoid starting there).
Once using ToodleDo and MYN, you can use any email system, including Gmail, to copy tasks into ToodleDo. And for filing mail you can use Gmail “Labels” just like Outlooks Categories. Use the Archive space just like the Processed Mail folder in Outlook. It all works!
Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating everyone leave Outlook for Gmail… I still like Outlook e-mail and calendar better—I feel it has more features, especially for the business user. But you have the freedom of choice in MYN & 1MTD to use any e-mail system.
Michael
Is Hoarding E-mail and Tasks Okay?
March 5, 2012
Recently a friend of mine was telling me about another friend who hoards things in her house—old no-longer-used items were everywhere—and it was becoming a real problem. There were entire rooms that were filled and not-usable for their intended purpose; bedrooms could not be slept in, offices could not be used. It made me think about e-mail and task hoarding—something I know I do and many other people do. Is that a comparable problem?
Well, if you’re hoarding everything in your main in-box or in your main task list then, then yes it is a problem. That’s because when the clutter is in your face like that, it degrades your ability to decide what needs focus. And it causes you to rehash items over and over again as you hunt for buried high priority items; and that wastes time. Instead, use good 1MTD and MYN approaches to triage quickly, and to then move those items on.
But what if you are “hoarding” years’ worth of old e-mails and tasks out of sight (say in a folder for e-mail, or in a designated low-priority area for tasks)? Well, I strongly feel it’s an acceptable thing to do; perhaps even something that you should be encouraged to do. Read the rest of this entry »
Short article about the next version of MS Outlook
Feb 23, 2012
Currently codenamed Office 15, the next version of Office, including Outlook, is due out for beta release this summer. Here’s a very short article from someone who got an early look at it (not many details):
http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/23/2818611/microsoft-office-15-screenshots-technical-preview
It sounds to me like they are optimizing it for future Windows tablets.
Michael
February 23rd, 2012 in
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Outlook Problems? This May Be Useful
Feb 17, 2012
Outlook can get weird in many ways and start performing badly. PST folders can get too big. Some add-ons will conflict with others.
Well, here is some software that analyzes your copy of Outlook 2007/10 and supposedly tells you what may be wrong. I have not tried it yet, but perhaps this will help one of you?
http://betanews.com/2012/02/17/you-probably-need-outlook-configuration-analyzer-tool/
Michael
February 17th, 2012 in
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QuickSteps Mea Culpa
Feb 17, 2012
I’ve gotten quite a few e-mails and comments recently that have made me realize I’d made a mistake about dismissing Quick Steps for MYN in Outlook 2010 too quickly. In an earlier post I had said that I didn’t think there were that many uses for Quick Steps in MYN because most, as applied to MYN scenarios, require more clicks than the equivalent manual actions.
However, in recent notes to me, people have pointed out that the real value of Quick Steps & MYN is when you use them from within an open e-mail. And now that I’ve tried that out, I have to agree, they are extremely useful when applied from within open e-mails. They do save steps in MYN. For example, for things like creating a task both as an attachment or not, and even filing to the processed mail folder, you do save steps when using the Quick Step button at the top of the open e-mail.
In fact, as many have pointed out, using that Quick Step is a useful way to get around the drag-create tasks problem I blogged about the other day.
So again, thanks to all who have turned my head about Quick Steps!
Here is an older link where I show how to use Quick Steps:
http://www.michaellinenberger.com/Outlook2010Introduction.htm#QuickSteps
It includes a link to a YouTube video we made on how to create Quick Steps.
Michael
February 17th, 2012 in
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The Subtle Difference between MYN’s Defer-to-Do and Defer-to-Review
Feb 15, 2011
For those of you who have been using my MYN system for a while (MYN is the advanced form of the One Minute To-Do List—1MTD; see this page for more info on the two), I want to point out something important. I want to emphasize the difference between Defer-to-Do and Defer-to-Review. It is a rather subtle point, and you’ll likely consider it only after you’ve been using the MYN system a while. But it’s something that I encounter every day when I manage my MYN to-do list, and I suspect you do to, without realizing it. So it’s worth a blog post to explain it.
Here’s the scenario. You are trying to clean up the Opportunity Now section of your MYN to do list (the medium or normal priority section). You want to remove items that you really don’t need to focus on today or even this week, and trim that list so it is nice and compact (fewer than 20 items). Other than deleting tasks, there are two ways to do that. Read the rest of this entry »
February 15th, 2012 in
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Fixing the Outlook 2010 Task Creation Problem
Feb 9, 2011
I thought I’d blogged about this before, but I guess not. In Outlook 2010, Microsoft introduced a bizarre “feature change” that occurs when you drag-create a task from e-mail. It causes the new task window to disappear. But it is sort of fixable.
Some background. By now you know I recommend that you convert action e-mails that you cannot act on now into Outlook tasks, and then manage them in the MYN tasks system. And the way you do that is to drag the e-mail onto the tasks icon in the lower left of the Outlook screen.
Well, in Outlook 2010, when you do that, the new task often (usually) seems to disappear after you create it, which prevents you from editing the subject, start date, priority, and so on. Well, the task is actually there, it’s just hidden behind the main Outlook window. So if you move the main OL window aside, you’ll see it there. But many do not realize that and sit there scratching their head thinking the drag and drop failed to create the task.
The solution?
Read the rest of this entry »
February 9th, 2012 in
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Time Tracking in Outlook
Jan 25, 2012
I’ve had a number of people ask me if there were time tracking tools that work with Outlook, for tracking billable time.
Here is one product that just came to my attention. Called Chrometa and it is a plug-in for Outlook. They say it will track how long you are in specific emails (reading, writing). I have no idea if it is any good, but the need seems to be out there so I hope this info helps someone. If you try it, let me know how it goes.
Michael
January 25th, 2012 in
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