VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Dayo · Cinquecento Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 544 Location: UK

Ok, it's a nice problem to have I admit. Lately it's getting tougher to stay on top of all the jobs that come in. Emma and I do a lot of self directed work and it usually starts with an email enquiry or job request.

I must admit I've never learnt more than the basics when it comes to Outlook, but I'm wondering if there is a solution in there somewhere for turning emails into a to-do list?

I've always used the old fashioned ways up to now; a white board or a handwritten list, but both methods have been known to fail. What I need is a simple way to turn an email into a item on a to-do list so that I can stay on top.

Any Outlook or Act! experts out there?

How do you guys organise your work-flow?
Thanks

Fran McClellan · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:18 am Post subject:

I'm no expert by any means, but what you could do is drag the messages to your Outlook calendar and set reminders to pop up. It's not an actual "to do" list, but maybe you can print out that particular "calendar day"???
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Matto · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:19 am Post subject:

It's been a while since I used Outlook (I'm on a Mac now), but I always found the 'flag for follow-up' function pretty useful. Have you experimented with that?
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Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:26 am Post subject:

My inbox IS my to-do list. Once the task is completed, I archive the email. The only thing in the inbox are tasks needing to be completed.
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Matto · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:04 am Post subject:

Brilliant suggestion, mate!
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DougVox · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:29 am Post subject:

My system's a lot like Jeff's. In GMail, I "star" items that need attention, and can easily see only the starred items with a single click, creating a simple To Do list (or in my case, an UNdone list. Ninja

)

When an item is done, it gets un-starred.
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ccpetersen · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:54 am Post subject:

What Doug said. And, stuff also goes in my gmail calendar, and there's a widget that reminds me of stuff each day when I log into my iGoogle.

Moe Egan · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 6:03 pm Post subject:

Risking the ridicule of my vastly superior technically inclined peers- I am totally old school when it comes to keeping myself organized and on top of things. I use hard covered "nothing" books. Every day gets its own page- I keep separate sections for jobs to do, invoicing. As jobs are done- I check them off- what's not done that day is highlighted and moved to the next day. I jot down notes pertinent to the job, the client or the day- phone #s, websites, whatever.

I know. Many of you are shaking your heads and tittering- but it works for me- plus I have a written record in these books of my entire career- I have often gone back to search out the name of a forgotten client, or the job or fee or whatever -it's saved my bacon on several occasions.

I realize that I am a cross between a kindergartner and the apes on 2001. I bang stuff, or color it in till it's pretty. So far, it's worked for me.
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Chuck Davis · Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:14 am Post subject:

I just drag the email messages onto the desktop. Once the project is completed the "desktop reminder" goes in the trash.
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COURVO · Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 10:29 pm Post subject:

Email is my world. Gmail, and a nifty CRM system called COMF5

....and I never titter.

CourVO
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Lisa · Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 9:20 pm Post subject:

Moe, your post made me smile. My system is a lot like yours. There's a name for people like us: Kinesthetic/Tactile. We should start a club. cool

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Donna · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:13 pm Post subject:

And Moe, should you ever decide to change your branding/slogan, you could do worse than

"Banging on stuff, or coloring it in until it's pretty."
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anthonyVO · 14th Avenue Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1470 Location: NYC

I, like Jeffrey, use my email. Since I use Google A Hobo Tounge

s (like Gmail but for your own domain,) I set up colored labels (ex., Pending Auditions, Pending Work, Invoice, etc.) If you like, you can view only specifically labeled emails. If I send an auditions or finished job, I remove the label and it disappears from view (when viewing only today specific list.)

Dayo · Cinquecento Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 544 Location: UK

Thanks for the tips everyone. I decided after all these years to actually learn Outlook. Lynda.com is very good for that kind of thing. Got to find a way to stay on top of the work - it gets swampy at this time of year.