GTD Tip: Multiple Categories for Tasks

Little tip for all those GTD fans out there.

Outlook supports assigning multiple categories to an Outlook task. This is useful when you have some of those actions that can be done in multiple contexts. For example, one action might be to Talk to Jim to discuss status of the financial report. This task can be done while in the office or while I'm on the road via the phone.

By clicking the Categories button in the task window of an Outlook task, you can assign more than one category. If you sort your tasks by category, the task item will be repeated under each category in the view even though only one item exists. If you mark it as complete it then disappears from under both categories.

This technique might also be useful if you want to assign a task item both to a context category and a project category. This may be useful if you want to see all your actions by a specific project and also by context.

If you use a PocketPC, you’ll be happy to know these multiple categories are synchronized. For Palm users, a different solution may be needed for synchronizing.