I’ve wanted to write about this for months. I wish I could remember where I read about this; it’s been a great productivity booster for me.
In the past, I have written and advised that one should not put priorities on tasks. Instead, one * might * considered putting a due date on a task. A great example of this comes from the best tip I picked up out of Jack Welch’s book – that you have to follow-up with (on) people in order to be effective. To accomplish this, I create a task on a project and put a Due Date on it so it will pop up in the Projects Widget on the right day and remind me to do the follow up.
In the past, I would have to pull down the calendar and look forward a week or two to assign the due date. Not only did I have to go through the physical motion of pulling down the calendar, but the mental motion of thinking about looking forward on the calendar for two weeks out. But, not anymore!
In the Due Date field (or any date field in Outlook for the most part), just type what you want. i.e.,
- 1 week
- 2 weeks
- Thu (or any day of the week)
- 1 month
Outlook will automatically replace it with the correct date (once you move off the field). Quick, easy and effective!
