Creating Tasks from OneNote

[Kent]

I use the categories feature in Outlook to sort my task lists. I think the
feature for creating a task, and updating a task is a great idea, however, I
find it cumbersome for the following reasons:

1. When the task is created in OneNote, there doesn't appear to be anywhere
to create or select a category.

2. Therefore, I need to switch over to OneNote (thus defeating the purpose
of using OneNote), and find the task, and then assign a category.

3. Once the category is created in Outlook, and then updated from Outlook,
I am not sure if it properly updates the task in OneNote.

Thanks,
Kent Carle

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[Erik Sojka (MVP)]

The task system in OneNote and the corresponding integration features in
Outlook were designed primarily for quick data entry. You wouldn't want to
lose your place when taking notes during a meeting or class if you need to
take 5 minutes to completely flesh out a task, right? You would have
missed out on the next topic or whatever while you are tweaking and
perfecting that Task you just created. Most time management and notetaking
systems (GTD, Franklin Covey, Cornell, etc.) have a post-meeting/post-class
review step for this reason. It is during that review step where you then
flesh out and categorize, etc. the tasks you have assigned yourself.

The Task definition in OneNote contains a subset of the data in the same
Task in Outlook, so there's nothing to update in OneNote (and therefore
nothing to worry about!) when you add a category to the Outlook task.

 

[nickh101]

Not being a devotee of the traditional time management systems I have a
slightly different approach. My segmentation and categorisation is already
done thorugh my OneNote groups, sections etc. For me the task integration
would be ideal if there was an option for the section title to automatically
be the category when creating tasks. This might not work for everyone, but
it would work perfectly for me.

 

[Kent]

Perfect, this is exactly what I am looking for. If Microsoft could add this
feature, or if a 3rd party could develop this I would be thrilled. Since
posting this, I found a work around. If I create a task, and press
Shift+Ctrl+K, an Outlook detail screen opens, and I can select a Category
from the bottom right side of the screen. it definitely slows down my note
taking, but again, I am not taking notes in a class, I am a project manager,
using OneNote to manage my projects.

Regarding the tradiditional programs like Covey, etc., I like some of their
features, but can's stand most of them. They seem to force me into a system
that is "their" system, and it just doesn't work for me, a better approach I
am learning is from two books, both of which I recommend, although the second
one is better by far.

The first is called: Take back your life - Using Microsoft Outlook to Get
Organized and Stay Organized, by Sally McGhee.

The second is called: Total Work Day Control (don't have the book in front
of me, so I cannot remember the author).

Thanks to all who responded.
Kent

 

[Carl]

I agree with Kent that it would be nice to be able to (optionally) set
categories from within OneNote. I find myself having to flip back and forth
a lot. For what it's worth, I sketched up some details explaining how, at a
basic level, the task linkage works between Outlook and OneNote. You can
find the article (along with screen shots) here:

http://manage-this.com/onenote-outlook-task-synchronization/

-Carl