There is no application that I have more of a love-hate relationship than the one I maintain with Outlook. And, among the add-ins that I use, none has caused me more grief, yet ultimately proven to be more worth the trouble than NetCentrics' GTD add-in for Outlook.



Digression: Outlook's extensibility has always been a two-edged sword, especially for software junkies like me. On the one hand, the universe of add-in modules and enhancements for Outlook are one of its greatest strengths. On the other, the architecture for performing these extensions to the program's core functionality often feels like the proverbial house of cards. I hope that Microsoft will one day achieve the same kind of stability that Adobe has reached with Photoshop by improving the core application and its hooks for third-party developers.

I last wrote about this tool in March and, in the intervening time, it has been at various times either central to my processing workflow or uninstalled. Balancing Outlook add-ins to achieve an acceptable level of stability and performance is an ongoing process as I test new add-ins and I have found the GTD add-in often does not work and play well with others. But, recent releases of this tool have achieved a performance level I am quite happy with and no tool I have used better enables a Getting Things Done workflow in Outlook (hardly surprising since this add-in was developed with the active cooperation of David Allen and his team).

For those who either prefer not to add software to Outlook or can't (due to company rules), David Allen also offers a PDF guide to configuring Outlook for GTD (a mere $10.00 and well worth the investment). For the cautious software investor, beginning with the guide might be the right approach - for many of my readers this has provided all of the functionality they require.

The add-in, however, provides the most productive workflow for me. Triaging e-mail, filtering tasks and appointments, and making solid decisions on next actions are all greatly enhanced with the tools this software provides. Here are the major benefits (description from the GTD Store).

The Getting Things Done Outlook Add-In allows you to:

• Automatically have your settings configured in Outlook.

• Clear your Outlook Inbox, knowing you will be able to act on the messages at the appropriate time.

• Define what has to be done next for each message or group of messages; delegate to another person, defer to a later date, create a next action task, file for reference, etc.

• Store the email in a known location and link it with reminders and tasks so you will always be able to work on the things that matter when they matter.

• Create associated reminders and tasks with the click of a button.

• Automatically remind yourself when it is time to act on a processed email.

• Apply Getting Things Done functionality to appointments and tasks you enter into Outlook, seamlessly integrating them with appointments and tasks you create from emails.

• View tasks and emails by the next action you need to take, by project or both.

• Access associated emails from your appointments and tasks.

• Keep your folders clean by removing completed items after a specified amount of time.

• Focus on what is important, knowing that you are master of your inbox.

NetCentrics maintains a support site for the add-in that offers a knowledge base and an active discussion forum visited by a lot of really helpful and highly motivated GTD'ers. I have learned a great number of tricks and techniques for getting the maximum value from this software by regularly visiting this forum and participating in the discussions. The add-in can be evaluated for 30 days prior to purchase and a visit to the forums should be part of your evaluation. A license for the add-in costs $69.95.

A final comment on this add-in. It makes significant changes to Outlook's basic views and a bit of manual work is required to restore Outlook completely to its former state. Happily, none of these changes are terribly difficult and NetCentrics now offers a guide to uninstalling the add-in and accomplishing these changes.

UPDATE: You can not place too much value on the quality of support you receive when you invest in a software license. Michael Hyatt reports in his Working Smart blog about an incredibly positive tech support experience with the good folks at NetCentrics.