This is a good time for me to update you regarding the article I wrote a few months ago—the one about how Microsoft appears to be sunsetting the Tasks module on Windows Desktop Outlook and how you should hold back on Outlook software updates. At the time I was uncertain if this was just a software release timing in issue or a true strategy change in Outlook.
But based on feedback from others, and on reports on various Microsoft news online sites, it looks like that unfortunate evolution has been confirmed. Microsoft, in its latest rollout of Microsoft 365 subscription copies of Windows Desktop Outlook, truly appears to be eliminating the old but powerful Tasks module.
Windows Desktop Outlook users in the UK and Australia are reporting a bug in an incremental update of their Outlook modules, and it it changes how the To-Do Bar shows tasks for MYN. Tasks dated today are not working right. But there is a fix.
The fix is this: You must edit the Start Date Today filter in the To Do Bar MYN configurations, and put quotation marks around the word “Today” in that filter. Simply adding those quotation marks will fix it.
For full details on how to edit the filters in the MYN configured To-Do Bar, see Chapter/Lesson 3 of my Outlook book. Or study Video Lessons #8 and #9 in my Outlook video course, or Lessons #4.10 through #4.12 in the Super Outlook Ninja video course (the one that includes MYN).
If you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber, then be aware that major changes in Windows Desktop Outlook are arriving in an update rolling out soon to your Windows computer.
And if you are an MYN System user with tasks stored in Outlook, you should hold off accepting that update. That’s because there have been some significant issues reported to us from a few of our MYN users.
It’s January again, and the new year’s resolution season is upon us. So, let’s resolve to get tasks and email under control.
It’s good to tackle both tasks and email together since, in many businesses, up to 90% of new tasks arrive by email. Tackling tasks, if done right, will get email under control.
It Simply Takes 4 Steps to Move this Forward
1. Commitment: make a commitment to reach that control. Without that, the next 3 steps won’t happen.
2. Technology: make a small commitment in new technology—you might need a new task management app or email management tool. On a Mac I recommend the Things app for tasks; you can use any email system with Things. On a Windows PC, Microsoft Outlook is great. Todoist is a good app for both.
But an app is useless without the next point.
3. Methodology: this is key, you must understand that having the right task and email methodology in place is what makes this work. I am biased of course, but I’ve never found a methodology that works better than the MYN, 1MTD, and Outlook Ninja methodologies.
See this short video that explains how my methodologies are different, and which you should use.
4. A Little Training: the above steps can’t be achieved by simply loading a new app on your smartphone. Too many of us try that easy way out but fail. Rather, it takes at least a little training to put the methodology in place, and to learn how to apply that methodology to technology (we show which apps and software to use). Of course, that’s my specialty: self-study video training to do just that.
See my store page for a list of those video courses. They are easy to use and will get you going quickly.
I received this notification from Andrew Boswell, the UK developer of the Task Angel Online app that supports MYN so well. Recall I wrote about this app back in January. This looks like a nice update! See discussion below. Michael.
From Andrew Boswell November 22, 2022
I am pleased to say a new version of TaskAngel is now available. This is a big update, version 2.0, aimed at making TaskAngel even easier to use. Just browse to app.taskangel.com as usual.
I follow some of the message boards on Reddit, including the Subreddit for the Things app from Cultured Code. I recently saw a message from someone asking for recommendations for an alternative to Things.
They were using Things to keep track of the tasks they had to do, and tasks that they would like to do. They admitted that they were getting stressed because they had to keep reading through the whole Today list to pick out the tasks that had to be done.
I’ve been doing computer support for over 20 years, for both hardware and software. While most of the requests were about problems that needed to be solved, many were asking for recommendations for hardware or software. Like the question above, a lot of people have asked me to recommend software to solve their problems.
If you are struggling with some part of your work or personal life, you may think that finding the right tool will solve a problem. Now that we all carry powerful computers in our pockets, it might seem like all you need for a particular problem is to find the right app. Apple built an advertising campaign around that idea, and even has a trademark on their slogan, “There’s an app for that.”
Microsoft in May (2022) released a beta preview of their upcoming new Windows Desktop Outlook, and it contains good news for MYN users. Microsoft has apparently not abandoned the original Tasks module—it’s still in there!
That’s important because the original Tasks module is needed to
use MYN in Outlook. So we now know that MYN users can continue implementing the MYN system in the newest version of Windows Desktop Outlook.
I’ve recently been collaborating with a software developer to help create a new tasks app, one that implements nearly all MYN principles in a simple way. The developer is an avid MYN user and was eager to do it.
An early release of that app is now available. It’s the new Online version of TaskAngel. Go to https://www.taskangel.com/online to get it (note it’s not in the iPhone App Store or Google Play but it still works on mobile devices as I discuss below).
Older versions of TaskAngel have been out a while, including Windows and smartphone app versions, but only TaskAngel Online is currently enabled for MYN—so be sure to select only that.
How the MYN-Enabled TaskAngel Online Looks
Here’s how TaskAngel Online looks. It presents a very clean list and it’s optimized well for MYN.
Here
it is, the new year, and I bet you will soon list a bunch of goals and to-dos
for 2022. Not a bad idea!
But
this year, I encourage you to get realistic about how you set their
priorities. There are right ways and wrong ways to prioritize to-dos. Do it
wrong, and the list won’t get done—it will just be another bust on your new
year’s resolutions.
Your
success will be significantly higher if you use MYN and 1MTD principles to prioritize that list.
One of my favorite features for any to-do list app is drag and drop prioritizing. By that I mean the ability to drag an app in the task list up or down to reposition it—thus changing its relative priority. Many apps have it, others don’t, but it’s a real time-saving advantage if they do.
Containing tips, productivity recommendations, and book, software, and system update news, this newsletter is a highly regarded source for those seeking ways to improve their e-mail and task management effectiveness.
On-Site Seminars
The tips in these blogs and newsletters are just that, small tips and lessons to make you more productive. If instead you’d like to significantly transform your team or department by learning an over-arching e-mail and task management approach using Outlook or other approaches, contact Michael Linenberger to schedule a hands-on seminar on-site, in your company (or a custom webinar). In those classes, the entire Master Your Now! system can be learned, greatly boosting the productivity of your team. The material can be directed for any existing capability level. Call 1-505-595-2575 or check out the seminars page for more information.
