GTD Outlook Addin

05 Jun 2005 - Dave

The Gettting Things Done Outlook Addin is a VB program that integrates with Outlook and automates workflow based on David Allen’s book ($69.95).

There is also a document available on Allen’s website called Getting Things done using Outlook. The document is for purchase ($10) as a downloadable Adobe Acrobat file. This document shows you how to configure Outlook to take advantage of the ideas presented in the book Getting Things Done…. The document tells you how to use Outlook but it is left to you to follow. It is faithful to what is described in the book where the Outlook Addin deviates some.

Once the addin is installed it creates the necessary folders and categories in Outlook automatically. A toolbar is added with buttons to perform the GTD-type actions. It is well integrated and cuts down on most of the things you have to do to get things done.

But…there are a few negatives that led me to uninstall the addin:

• Outlook has become quite the platform mainly because of the central role it plays. There are quite a few products designed to work with Outlook (such as SpamBayes, LookOut, antivirus tools, etc). After a few addins are installed you have to weigh the positive benefits against the potentially negative conflicts that inevitably happen. Folks using Outlook can customize a great deal within the Outlook application which can also lead to conflicts.
• The complexity factor. Outlook is already a complex beast to learn and use effectively. The additional toolbar, buttons and behaviors of the GTD Addin increase the complexity. Had they not deviated from the original workflow and simply automated those areas it would have been better. The original workflow represents the minimal distillation of what works! But then it would be harder to charge $69.95 for that! SpamBayes and LookOut are very elegant examples of simple yet powerful Addins.
• Deeper down in the plumbing the quality of the coding is somewhat suspect. It makes me suspicious of what lies deeper. The AddIn creates what are known as User Defined Fields for each task item to support some of their more advanced features. The fields that are added are not included in Outlook by default. But the questionable approach is where they hijack a few little used fields that are included in Outlook for an entirely different purpose. What are the chances someone uses those fields? …Slim but the possibility exists. Why go through the trouble of creating unique fields for some but not others! It is compromises like this that lead to conflicts…weird behavior…bugs…you get the picture.
• The Outlook Addin is not a replacement for reading the book or attending a seminar on Getting Things Done. To take advantage of the benefits of this approach to workflow a person has to understand the basic principles. If you’re looking for an easy silver bullet using the GTD Outlook AddIn will only make things worse.

This is not a problem though because the short PDF provides everything you need to take better advantage of GTD anyway…you’re better off.