How to Get Things Done With OneNote
Whether you are looking to accomplish items on your to do list or you want to re-organize your work flow according to the principles of David Allen's "Getting Things Done," OneNote is a powerful task management tool. Users add text, pictures, scanned documents, audio and video to OneNote's digital notebooks, and OneNote organizes and cross references the information, making everything searchable, including spoken text in video or audio files. Though the program primarily functions as a digital library, you can tweak OneNote to function as your primary work desk with all tasks, updates and vital information visually packaged and centrally accessible.
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Instructions
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Determine your primary areas of responsibility. Create a book for each and an additional notebook called "inbox." List your current and ongoing projects within each area of responsibility on the first page of each book. According to the principles of "Getting Things Done," every multi-step task qualifies as a project. Make a page for each project within the relevant book, and populate each with actionable steps for completing the project.
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Customize your note flags. Create one colored check box for "next actions" and a second colored check box for "items you are waiting for." Choose another icon in a third color to denote projects. Tag each item in the project list on the first page of each notebook with your project flag.
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Create contextual tags. In the "Getting Things Done" system, tasks are assigned to physical locations or types so users can only view tasks they can accomplish in their current location or context. Decide which contexts you will use and create tags for each in the format @context. Commonly used contexts include work, home, computer, email, call and errands.
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Read through the tasks in each project. Tag each task with the correct note flag, identifying one next action for each project. Assign each task a context, denoting where or how the task can be accomplished.
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Organize your work day by context or project. Search for a contextual tags related to your present location. At the office between meetings pull up @call or @email. Review all tasks of that type, complete as many as you can and check them off. Or, open the project page and focus on completing tasks related to a single project. Check off tasks as you complete them, and assign the next action flag to the next action within the appropriate project.
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Enter new tasks in your inbox book throughout the day as soon as you think of them. Do not take time to place tasks in the appropriate book and project page when you think of them; simply jot down the information in your inbox and leave it to process later.
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Process your inbox book completely each day. Schedule a time with yourself at or near the end of the day. Read each task you added to your inbox during the day, apply the appropriate flag and move it to the correct project page.
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Schedule a meeting with yourself once a week. Open each project page and review the tasks listed. Check off any tasks that you have completed during the week and forgot to check. Select the next actions in each project and apply the appropriate colored flag. Create project pages for new projects that have popped up during the week and populate them with the required tasks.
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Tips & Warnings
OneNote menus and manipulations options mirror other Microsoft products, such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint. You can create the same graphics, text blocks and tables in OneNote that you do in other Microsoft programs.
