When you are bombarded with several tens of or hundreds of emails a day and your brain get overloaded… Take control on your Inbox! Inspired by the GTD method – David Allen.

1. GTD OUTLOOK 2010 CONFIGURATION
Lasted edited: 02/03/2013
By Patrick Tahiri
When you are bombarded with several tens of or hundreds of emails a day and your brain get
overloaded…
 Take control on your Inbox! Don’t let your Inbox take control on you…
 Shift from an Inbox based working method  to a Task based working method.
 Inspired by the GTD method (Get Things Done – David Allen).
GTD method is Mail system independent – Here it is summarized and applied to MS-Outlook 2010.
Brain significant strength: organize.
Brain relative strength/weakness: store (remember).
Brains weakness: recall at right time.
 Key elements of GTD method:
 “Empty” Inbox – Minimal amount of folders – more Tasks
 Change your thinking:
Hyper organized folder tree structure
>>> to >>>
Hypo organized folder with category-tag structure (pt. 6) and powerful Search (pt. 10).
 Better having 100 workout categorized/structured tasks than 100 emails in the Inbox.
Goals:
 Simplify and visualize the work.
 Better control and mastering on your Inbox and workload.
 Increased focus, insight and productivity on your workload, and tasks.
 Decrease interruptions: less email interruptions (less emails stealing your time).
 Better structured working method.
 Better predictability.
 Increase collaboration efficiency: follow up, feedback, time planning, meetings, and priority.
 Relief the brain.
 Less stress – more mental freedom as a result on better Inbox control.
 Empty your head: unload your brain.
You can only feel good with what you are not doing when you know what you are not doing.
Remembering or trying to remember significant amount of emails/tasks will lead you to a stressful mindset.
Symptoms: Your head is full – You forget – You miss control – You slow down – You don’t know what to
do/prioritize and you don’t know what you haven’t done yet – Overwhelming overload feeling – Stress Increase.
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Patrick Tahiri

2. 1. Folder Structure
Outlook Navigation Pane  Under Favorites  Under your Inbox :
 Create the folder My Archives or Archives.
This folder is where you’re going to dump everything that no longer requires actions but may need to be
referenced someday.
This folder is your single reference location and searching point.
 Create the folder CC or CC emails.
This folder is where all your cc emails are automatically placed.
Remember to check them sometimes (one time at least) during the day.
 Keep/Drag&Drop the Sent Items and the Deleted Items folders from the Postboks part to the Favorites part.
2. Create CC rule
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3. Create CC Automatic Reply (if relevant)
 Write this message for example: Hi, For you information: all emails addressed to me in cc will be checked sporadically. 
  
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Patrick Tahiri

3.  
   
   
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4. Outlook start view on Calendar
Instead to start MS-Outlook directly on your Inbox and start check/read your emails and work on them:
Start on your Calendar first to check quickly your day schedule/planning and appointments.
This in order to avoid forgetting your appointments, tasks schedule and being negatively surprised.
  
Choose the week view:
5. Remove the Desktop Display Alert for Message arrival
For keeping focus and avoid excessive interruptions turn off the Desktop Display Alert each time an email arrives
to your Inbox. Turn off interruptions!
 
 Tick/turn off Display a Desktop Alert:
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Patrick Tahiri

4. 6. Organizing/Categorizing emails and tasks
Your Inbox has a volume issue – the volume is high, the nature of information allows for multiple topics to be
covered in one message/email.
Replace folder based emails categorizing usage by the MS-Outlook categorizing email tag feature.
You go from a folder based concept to a category-tag based concept.
Your tags replace your folders and all emails are in one single folder My Archives (or Archives).
You can have several category-tags on a given email – you can’t do that with a hyper organized folder tree
structure: you might copy your info/email in each folder relevant to the several topics covered within the target
email.
All archived emails are located in one folder (My Archives or Archives).
Method: Categorize-tag an Inbox email & move it to your single My Archives (or Archives) folder.
 Categorize – Create categories
Create your categories by subjects, disciplines or subject and allocate colors:
  All Categories…  
Examples: Customer A, Customer B, Operation, Personal, Technology A, …
 Contexts – Create contexts
Create your contexts telling where you should be/are or in which situation you should be/are when a task
should/will be done. Do not use colors (white).
  All Categories…  
Examples: @Out, @Home, @Meetings, @Trip, @Waiting others, @Work/Office, …
 Archiving – Goal is keeping your Inbox as little as possible  empty!
- Categorize the email (Categories + Contexts).
- Archive it into your single My Archives (or Archives) folder.
It’s more flexible/smart than only having folders: you can allocate to an email or to a task several categories
or/and contexts than with folder structures (folder usage: several copies in different folders – redundant, room for
inconsistency, decrease search capacity).
7. Convert email to Meeting/Appointment
 Drag and drop the target email from your Inbox to the target date on the To-Do Bar on the Calendar part:
The e-mail will be copied into a meeting/appointment with its original text.
 Schedule meeting/appointment and eventually add the location.
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Patrick Tahiri

5.  Move the original email to your Archives folder – or – Delete the original email.
 Convert & Move|Delete
8. Convert email to Task
 Drag and drop the email from your Inbox to the Navigation Pane (left side/bar) on the Tasks icon:
The e-mail will be copied into a task with its original text.
 Schedule the task.
 Move the original email to your Archives folder – or – Delete the original email.
 Convert & Move|Delete
Note:
 When the Due Date (Forfallsdato) is passed and the task is not done: the task will automatically move forward
and follow the current day in you To-Do Bar under the Calendar view.
 Some Drag&Drop alternatives:
- Left click, drag&drop to the Tasks icon  automatically transforms your email into a task with the email
text copied.
- Right click, drag&drop to the Tasks icon  choose between create a task with the email’s text, with the
email in attachment or to move the email to a task with the email in attachment.
Shift from “inbox based work method” to “tasks based work method”.
Inbox/email work method  Task based work method
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Patrick Tahiri

6. 9. Waiting/Pending others & Flagging sent emails
Flagging emails is suitable for emails that have to be answered – when you wait or depend on a feedback to
take further action.
Flagged email is showed in the To-Do Bar (right side of MS-Outlook and under the Calender).
 Flagg sent emails in the Sent Items when you need a feedback:
- Right click on the target sent email.
- Choose Follow Up.
- Choose when you want to follow up and remind you a check and feedback on this email.
You can customize it as well by choosing Custom… and eventually setup a Reminder:

10. Search an email or info
Your Inbox has a volume issue – the volume is high, the nature of information allows for multiple topics to be
covered in one message/email.
Because search and category feature has become so powerful hyper organized folder tree structure is not the
answer: search is!
Using the categorize tag feature (pt. 6) from MS-Outlook increases the search performance and efficiency!
All archived emails are located in one folder (My Archives or Archives).
In hyper organized folder tree structure you have to go in each folder and look for your info/email.
In hyper organized folder tree structure you might copy your info/email in each folder relevant to the several
topics covered within the target email.
 Choose/select a folder (My Archives).
 Click in the Search field:
 Click on and choose one or more categories that might be tagged on your info or email.
 Eventually append one or more keyword(s):
Shift from looking for/exploring email and information to searching for email and information
11. Convert email to Contact
 Drag and drop the email from your Inbox to the Navigation Pane (left side/bar) on the Contacts icon:
The e-mail will be copied into the contact’s notes part with its original text while email address and names
information will automatically be registered under the new contact’s corresponding fields.
 Convert & Move|Delete the email.
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Patrick Tahiri

7. 12. Convert email to Note
 Drag and drop the email from your Inbox to the Navigation Pane (left side/bar) on the Notes icon:
The e-mail will be copied into the new Notes part with its original text.
 Convert & Move|Delete the email.
13. Quick Steps (Optional) – Preset action sequences.
Configure a Quick Steps in order that for a selected/chosen email:
Preset action sequences for point 6 and 8 to automatically require you to categorize, convert to task and
move to a predefined folder:
 Create a Quick Steps:
 
  Choose Custom 
 Choose a Name:
 Ask automatically for categories:
 Convert automatically to task:


 Move automatically to the My Archives (or Archives)

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8. 
 Give a shortcut (optional):
(Shortcut key example!)
How to use the Quick Steps feature?
 Right click on the target email.
 Choose Quick Steps and choose your customized Quick Step (here: Categorize+ConvertTask+Move)
OR
 Select/click on your target email.
 Enter your Shortcut key (here: CTRL+SHIFT+9)
14. Conversations views (optional)
If you want to configure, group and show your emails arranged by conversation threads (like Gmail):
 Select/Choose a folder (Inbox for example)
 
 Choose if you want to apply this conversation configuration to all folders or only the selected one.
15. GTD Get Started
Establishing new email Inbox habits with a single reference location and searching point for needed emails will
enable you to dominate through disorder and more positively enter your email.
My Archives (or Archives) folder is your single reference location and searching point.
 Keep your old/original folder structure and start working from your current emails in you Inbox and your new
GTD based folder structure.
 2 minutes rule:
 Scope: covers all tasks taking less than 2 minutes.
 If < 2 min  DO IT NOW! Get rid of the small tasks (< 2 min).
 If > 2 min  Convert incoming/Inbox email to Task|Meeting & Move to Archives|Delete* the email.
*Archive or Delete?
 If your email no longer requires actions but may need to be referenced someday  Archive! (My Archives)
 If your email no longer requires actions and don’t need to be referenced someday  Delete!
Folder My Archives or Archives
This folder is your single reference location and searching point.
 Implement GTD method self-discipline – yet relaxed.
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Patrick Tahiri

9. Eat a frog for breakfast:
Increase productivity: start the day getting rid of at least one boring or/and heavy task.
“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” – Mark Twain
Motivation is what gets you started – habits are what keep you going.
16. Some useful MS-Outlook shortcuts
Ctrl+Shift+I Go to Inbox Ctrl+1 Go to Mail Folder bar
Ctrl+Shift+V Move to a folder Ctrl+2 Go to Calendar
Ctrl+Y Go to a folder Ctrl+3 Go to contacts
Ctrl+E Activate Quick Search Ctrl+4 Go to Task bar
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Patrick Tahiri

10. Kick Your Email Addiction
This might be hard to face, but it’s best to just tackle the truth directly: you have an addiction and it’s your inbox.
So many workers spend much of their day just playing catch-up to their emails. You might be in the middle of work
when you hear the siren beep of a new email zooming into your inbox, and suddenly your work is halted so you
can take a look.
It’s time to detox from your inbox. Choose a few times during your day to check your email and stick to this
schedule no matter what. For instance, you can check once in the morning, once around lunch, and a follow-up
time an hour or two before clocking out. By limiting the amount of time you spend lost in your inbox, you can tune
out the noise and allow yourself to focus.
Try this:
 Check you emails 3 times / day.
 3 tasks / day.
 Too many calls?  Make a list with roles (not names) – and give them a priority.