June 3, 2017

Key to both my MYN and 1MTD systems is converting e-mails to tasks. It’s the main way to get control of your Inbox. In Windows desktop Outlook, the primary way to convert e-mails to true Outlook tasks is to drag the e-mail from the Inbox list view to the Tasks icon or label in the lower left portion of the Outlook Window. It’s how I almost always do it.

But there are other ways to convert e-mails to tasks that that have some advantages:

• Right-click the e-mail and while holding right mouse button drag to Tasks icon or label, and then choose second item in the 4-part pop-up list. That converts the e-mail as an attachment, with many advantages (can see attachments, can reply).
• Create an Outlook Quick Step that converts e-mails to tasks in one click. See this link for how to do that and list of advantages.
• Right-click the e-mail, choose Move, and choose Tasks. This deletes email from Inbox after converting.
• If you have multiple task folders or multiple e-mail accounts with tasks folders and you want to put converted tasks directly in one of those, do this: drag e-mail to a specific tasks folder on the left. You need to put the Outlook Folder Pane on left into Folders mode first: (Outlook 2013/2016 click ellipsis button in lower left and choose Folders to do that). Then you can see all tasks folders on left.

Other Points:

• Don’t drag e-mails to the To-Do Bar on the right. That can appear to create a task, but it doesn’t, it creates a flagged mail task, which we don’t want.
• Don’t convert to task by simply flagging the e-mail. It creates a flagged mail task, which we generally don’t want to use (other than for deferred replies).
• There is no way to convert an e-mail to a true task in the standard iPhone and Android mobile mail apps. But third-party mail apps do allow this (iPhone: TouchDown or Preside; Android: Nine).
• See Lesson (Chapter) 7 in my Outlook book for many more details on converting e-mails to tasks.

Michael

May 12, 2017

We just released Edition 5 of the book Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook.

See more details here: http://www.michaellinenberger.com/NewsletterMay12-17.html

Upgrade Paths:

We almost always get questions about upgrade paths when new books come out. There are upgrade paths for the PDF book only. Here is the whole story:

• Paper Book: There is no way for us to offer upgrades for paper books you bought from bookstores (online or physical). It’s just not done in the publishing industry mainly because it’s too hard to do.
• Kindle, Nook: The same goes with proprietary eBook formats like Kindle and Nook—we have no way to get into the computer systems of Amazon or BN to see who bought it and when, and we have no coupon arrangement with those vendors.
• PDF Buyers This Year, you get a free copy: if you bought the PDF book from our PDF store between Jan 1, 2017 and May 12, 2017, directly from us, you can get a free PDF copy of the new 5^th edition. Just go to this page, log into your account, and download it. If after logging in it says the product is not available, it means you purchased it before Jan 1 (or you did not log in correctly).
• If you are uncertain about when you bought the PDF book, or how to login, check your saved e-mails for a receipt to see when you bought it and/or to confirm your username—you would have gotten an e-mail receipt immediately after purchase with a subject line containing: “MichaelLinenbergerVideoAndTraining”. Search on that term. If you cannot find that email, go to http://www.michaellinenberger.com/amember4/ and log into your account, and click the Payments History link at the right and look up your purchase. But please don’t contact us asking us when or if you bought it or what username you used when you bought it, unless you have done a thorough search first. Thousands of people have bought the book and we can’t look that up for everyone easily—it may take several days to get back to you.
• New Video Course Users: Those who own the Complete MYN Outlook 365 Video Course, the one released last fall, you get the new PDF of edition 5 free no matter when you bought access to that video course. You can download the new Ed 5 PDF from the video delivery page (after you log in)—once there, just click the Ed 5 book image on the right once at that page.
• $1.00 off coupon: All others who bought the Edition 4 PDF directly from us, but who are not eligible for the free upgrade (you bought before Jan 1 2017), here is a coupon code: U5LH1FIN that will give you $1.00 off your edition 5 PDF purchase: Just go to this page, log into your account, and enter it in the coupon field during purchase. If the coupon is not accepted, it means you did not purchase the book from us on that account—please login again using the correct username. Please don’t contact us asking us when or if you bought it or what username you used when you bought it, unless you have done a thorough search first. Thousands of people have bought the book and we can’t look that up for everyone easily—it may take several days to get back to you, sorry!

May 6, 2017

As you know in all my books I teach a pretty firm rule about keeping the Critical Now section at 5 or fewer items. Well, I received a sincere question from a dedicated 1MTD user who asked the following (I am paraphrasing): “What about those days when one emergency after another come rolling in, and if I write them all down I’ll have well over 5 items on my Critical Now list.”

My Standard Answer

Normally what I say is “when you are about to put the 6^th item on the list, stop and get something else done that’s already on the list. Or do that new item immediately. Just try to keep the list at 5 or fewer.” Here is an article that discusses that point and more:

http://www.michaellinenberger.com/blog/what-if-i-have-more-than-5-critical-now-items/

Breaking the Rule

But occasionally the ideas in that article won’t help and even I go over 5 items, under the very circumstances he described in his question: an unusually crazy day where events come piling in faster than normal. So I break the rule that day. Every rule is absolute until it must be broken. But only break it with awareness and a heightened sense of responsibility.

Like Breaking a Road’s Speed Limit

It’s sort of like those days you have to break the speed limit driving on a busy road because of a true emergency. If you must do it, do it with a very high sense of responsibility, scanning the road in front of you with great care and great concern and attention. Knowing you have to slow down as soon as you can.

Same with your list when it gets over 5. Keep in your mind “I have to get that list back down to five—it’s a dangerous letting it get big like that, I could drop something,” and just plunge ahead trying to do that. Try as hard as possible to get it back to 5 relatively quickly so that you can take a step down in your heightened awareness—which cannot be maintained accurately that long. And during that time, keep a very sharp eye on that list knowing it is rather risky to have that many critical items piled up. That’s all you can do.

 The Rules are to Allow a Reasonable Work Life

The point of the 5 item limit is to allow you to, on most days, relax and enjoy your work, knowing that you have things under control. That was my reason for creating the rule. It’s a tool to create a reasonable work life. But if you temporarily can’t stick to the rules (and the suggestions in that article above just don’t work because it’s such a busy day), and so you must get above 5, only do so with great care. Just focus very carefully on those days.

And don’t make a habit of it. Otherwise you’ll start dropping things. For a maximum sense of control (and thus a more relaxed work day), I like to keep my Critical Now list no bigger than 3 if I can. There are many days it is zero. Remember the definition of that section: you will only put items there that are so critical you would even work all night if they were not done by the end of the day. Keep using that “Going Home Test” and use that section very conservatively.

Here are some more articles about the 1MTD and MYN Critical Now urgency zone rules:

http://www.michaellinenberger.com/blog/is-the-5-item-limit-in-critical-now-unrealistic/

http://www.michaellinenberger.com/blog/use-the-going-home-test-to-keep-your-priorities-under-control/

http://www.michaellinenberger.com/blog/getting-caught-up-with-1mtdmyn-tasks/

Michael

May 4, 2017

As I promised last week, here is the download link for my brand new second edition of The One Minute To-Do List (1MTD) book, PDF copy. As usual, this is a free download; so help yourself. This new second edition was just released, and it will help you get your tasks and work life under control, even better than the last edition. The new edition is just as quick to study, and includes more Outlook material and many updates.

Here is all that’s new in this Second Edition: Continue reading →

May 2, 2017

[This is an update to a 2011 article that included Outlook 2010, 2007, and 2001. If you are using one of those versions of Windows Outlook, study that article here.]

As you know, I recommend using Outlook Categories, instead of multiple folders, for when you want to file mail by topic. Once used, you would normally view groups of categorized mail in your Inbox or Processed Mail folder by clicking on the Category column header, or by Arranging by Category in the View tab.

But you can also use Outlook’s Search Folders to view category-filed mail. Search Folders are a Windows Outlook feature that allows creation of virtual folders in your folder list. Search Folders can be used, among other things, to create category folders right in your Folders Pane. They appear within and under the Search Folder group.

Continue reading →

Mar 2, 2017

TaskTask is a great tasks app for iOS (iPhone or iPad) that syncs with Exchange Server. Since most companies use Exchange Server, this is the app most corporate users should choose to sync their tasks with desktop Outlook, so you can use those tasks on your smartphone. TaskTask also syncs with Office 365 mail servers and newer Outlook.com accounts.

I have been recommending TaskTask for years and have various articles and videos about TaskTask spread about in my blogs and lessons. To consolidate and update that information, below are the complete steps for getting started with TaskTask and configuring it for either the 1MTD or MYN systems. TaskTask now provides a one-click setup button for 1MTD and MYN, making setup easy. But there is still a bit to study to understand the TaskTask setting options, and there are other settings you might want to make, so read on.

The article below is for version 5.2.3 of the app. I’ll try to keep this page updated if these steps change with new app versions. Users of my paid MYN-Outlook Complete Video course will continue having the TaskTask video lesson updated, and that video covers everything shown here for MYN users.    Continue reading →

Feb 28, 2017

I’ve just added a new video to the MYN-Outlook Complete Video Training. It’s about MYN Views and how to use it. And the video is free for both subscribers and non-subscribers. Just go to this link www.michaellinenberger.com/mvc.htm, and scroll down to Preview Video #29.

Why Use the MYN Views Add-In?

MYN Views is software that you add to Windows Outlook that installs all the MYN settings in your To-Do Bar.

• This saves a lot of time compared to hand-entering the settings.
• It also installs a Restore Views button that resets the MYN settings in your To-Do Bar, should they get altered or corrupted.
• It also installs a button to toggle the appearance or hiding of flagged-mail tasks in your To-Do Bar.

So go watch the video to learn more. Again, scroll down to the free Preview Lesson 29. To purchase the MYN Views software, go to www.mynviews.com; it’s sold and supported by ClearContext Inc. and it’s about $15. I don’t make any money on your purchase of this software but I encourage it because it is so helpful for MYN users.

Michael

Feb 26, 2017

The Toodledo company has a good app for Android devices, one that syncs well with its web tasks server. Below are the steps for getting started with it, and then for configuring it for either the 1MTD or MYN systems.

The steps below are for version 6.3.3 of the app. I’ll try to keep this page updated if these steps change with new Toodledo app versions. Also, these steps assume that you already have a Toodledo web account set up before using the Toodledo app.    Continue reading →

Feb 24, 2017

The Toodledo company has for a long time had a great iPhone and iPad (iOS) app that syncs with its web tasks account.

 Below are the steps for getting started with it, and then configuring it for either the 1MTD or MYN systems. This updates the various articles and videos I have out there.

The steps below are for version 3.3.10 of the app. I’ll try to keep this page updated if these steps change with new Toodledo app versions. Note, I used to keep streaming videos for these steps on the Extras page for the 1MTD book, but it’s been too much work to keep updating the free videos, so it will just be these text-blog steps from now on that I’ll update. Users of my paid Full MYN Toodledo course will keep having their videos updated.

Also, these steps assume that you already have a Toodledo web account set up before using the Toodledo app.

Continue reading →

Feb 20, 2017

In the edition 5 of my book Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook (due out in late April 2017), I’ve removed the pages about the Master Tasks view from Lesson 12 to make room for other materials. Reason: these days the Master Tasks view is a very low-priority view in MYN. But in case you are still interested in using this view, I’ve posted the text from those pages in this article, so read below if you need this information.

Continue reading →