Autofocus: Adapting Outlook from GTD

Now that I've started using Autofocus (AF), here's what I ditched from my Getting Things Done (GTD) implementation in Outlook, and here's what I kept:

I still have my Outlook "Archive" folder (with no sub-folders) in which I keep all of my old reference-based e-mails. I still categorize these e-mails to make it a bit easier for me to find any individual e-mail message in there. (But I categorize these e-mails only once a week or so.)

I renamed my "Bacn" folder to "Read Later," only because it's easier for me to explain to others people what it's there for. (Bacn is "e-mail you want - but not right now" as compared to spam, which is e-mail you don't want.) I have an Outlook rule that puts all of my incoming e-mail there except for those e-mails in which I'm on the To line or come from my manager. I check this folder only three times or so each workday.

I consolidated my "Follow Up" (GTD refers to this as "@ACTION") and "Waiting For" Outlook folders into my Outlook Tasks list. I use only two categories in this list: "Blocked" and "Projects." (More about this in my next post.) My current view shows only each task's tite and due date, grouped by category. When I "cross off" a task, it disappears from the view.