Setting Deadlines in MYN-Outlook

August 23, 2014

How do you set deadlines in the MYN-Outlook task system?

If you are an MYN Outlook user you probably know that we don’t use the Due Date field in Outlook. That’s because of two significant design issues inherent in Outlook’s use of that field. As a reminder, those issues are:

1. If you change the Start Date field, the Due Date field changes by the same number of days, and you may not notice that change and so miss your real deadline.
2. Once you populate the Start Date field, you cannot empty the Due Date field—it always auto-populates with the start date. Since in MYN every task must have a start date entered, that design results in every task appearing to have a deadline, and we know that’s not true—not all tasks have deadlines. As a reminder, one of the principles of MYN (and of 1MTD) is that you only set a deadline when it’s a real deadline. You don’t make up arbitrary deadlines to try to force your hand because that causes you to lose respect for all deadlines—they become weak and almost meaningless.

So because of these two hard-wired features of Outlook, we cannot use the Due Date field in Outlook in MYN. By the way, neither of these design issues are present in Toodledo—there is no unfortunate linkage to the Start Date field—so feel free to use the Due Date field in Toodledo.

Proper Way to Set Deadlines in MYN Outlook

So how do we set deadlines in MYN-Outlook if we don’t use the Due Date field? The main way I teach is this: put the word DUE (in all caps), and the deadline date, at the beginning of the subject line of the task. For example: “DUE Apr1—Submit tax data to CPA.”

Be sure to set the Start Date field of that task to a value that is enough days (or weeks) ahead of that deadline so the task appears in your list early enough to give you notice—to get you working on it in time. Recall that tasks don’t appear in the MYN task list until their start date arrives.

Note that these DUE tasks tend to start out in the Opportunity Now (Normal Priority) section of your task list. Since per MYN rules you examine that section at least once a day, that should cause you to get that task done on time. And on the morning of the deadline, if the task is still not complete, you should drag the task up to the Critical Now section, reminding yourself you must complete it that day. (If you are worried you might not examine the full Opportunity Now list each day, and so miss the deadline, see the Extension below).

What about 1MTD Outlook?

If you are using only 1MTD (The One Minute To-Do List) in Outlook with the simple 1MTD settings, you can use the Due Date field for deadlines. That’s because we don’t use start dates in 1MTD so the linkage is not an issue. However, I don’t recommend doing that—using the Due Date field—even in 1MTD with Outlook. That’s because in certain situations an otherwise blank Outlook Due Date field tends to automatically populate itself without you realizing it, and then you lose trust in the field. So in 1MTD in Outlook, the above DUE technique is still the best.

Other Ways to Set Deadlines?

Aren’t there any other ways to set deadlines other than using DUE? Sure, while the DUE approach is the most common, there are four other ways to set deadlines in Outlook with MYN, and each has its best time and place to be used. At the end of Lesson 4 in the Outlook book I discuss all five ways, so study that to learn the full instructions.

Extension to the DUE Approach: Duplicate the Task

One of the other ways listed at the end of Chapter 4 is an extension to the above DUE approach. Let me paint the scenario where it is needed first. Let’s say you set the start date of the DUE task so the task is visible three or four (or more) weeks ahead of its deadline. In those weeks, the task may get pushed far down in your list due to new tasks being entered above it each day, and be relatively out of sight. If due to a busy period you don’t examine your full Opportunity Now section each day, you might miss that DUE task on its deadline day. My usual advice to avoid that it is to periodically reposition very important DUE tasks higher in your list, to keep them near the top of the list and well in sight (you do that by setting the start date at or close to today).

But in case you are worried you may not remember to do that, do this: at the time you create the DUE task, create a duplicate task and set the Start Date field to the deadline date, and set the Priority to High. That way the duplicate task will jump into your Critical Now section on its deadline date, reminding you that the deadline is upon you. Clearly, you’d only take this effort for relatively important deadlines.

By the way, there is a quick way to duplicate a task in the Windows Outlook To-Do Bar. Right-click the task and drag it to the Tasks icon (or Tasks label in Outlook 2013) in the lower left of the Outlook Window. That’s similar to how you convert an e-mail to a task. In the shortcut menu that appears choose Copy. Then set the start date of that duplicate task to the deadline and priority to High.

Extension #2: Put it on Calendar with Reminder

Another similar extension, also discussed in Lesson 4 of the Outlook book, is to put the task as an 0-length appointment your calendar on the deadline date, and activate a calendar reminder to pop up on your computer screen (and smartphone) on the morning of the deadline. This is for those very critical tasks you don’t want to take any chances on missing. See more details in the book.

Summary

There are many ways to set deadlines in MYN Outlook and using the DUE text approach is the best way for most tasks. The Due Date field in Outlook should NOT be used. Be sure to read the end of Lesson 4 in the Outlook book for a complete description of all methods of setting deadlines in MYN Outlook, and start using them as appropriate for your work.

Michael Linenberger