Using the Outlook Addin for Evernote

My last post talked about how I frequently "Bcc" my Evernote mailbox. That doesn't mean I don't use the "Add To Evernote" Outlook Addin -- in fact I use it quite a bit as well. Don't have this addin? If you are running the Evernote Windows client, you already have the addin, all you need to do now is enable it. Here is the basic process for enabling the Evernote for Outlook addin.

1. File
2. Options
3. Addins
4. Manage "COM add-ins" turning the checkbox on
5. OK

At this point the Evernote button should appear.  Your mileage may vary as discussion forums on this topic seem to be extensive.

Once you have this successfully working, you have two basic configuration options:

• Do you want a the note creation dialog to appear?
• Do you want the created note to appear as a New window?

Both of these are set within Evernote:
Tools -> Clipping Options (shown below). I prefer to see the creation dialog, but not the created note. Choose what works for you.

In my next post, I write about when I use "Bcc" vs the Add to Evernote Command Button

Bcc Can Be Your New Best Friend

In a recent post I queried for ideas around tools to manage my calendar. Specifically, I was looking tips around Outlook, Evernote (EN), and "Getting things Done" (GTD). The most helpful sources I found focused on:

Evernote Discussion Forums -- Very helpful community of EN users
"The Secert Weapon" -- specific techniques around using EN for GTD

The most useful tip (that I had been using intermittently) was the use of Bcc to get e-mail into Evernote. I found that I was doing this so frequently that I was willing to give the screen real estate in Outlook by having the bcc field visible all the time. Like most things in Outlook, you have to dig to find it. Here are those instructions in a nutshell for Outlook 2010:

1. Open a new New E-Mail message
2. Click Options menu to display the Options ribbon
3. Click "Bcc" on the "Show Fields" section of the Options Ribbon

Here is the link to the Microsoft KB article for various version of Outlook.

Calendar Before the Inbox

If you have worked with me or followed me on Twitter, you have frequently seen the #inboxero hashtag. While I used this mantra in my approach to my daily e-mail, I was not all that successful in practice (see www.inboxzero.com for some practical ideas). I recently took a different job within my organization and it has dramatically reduced the volume of mail that I get (thankfully). This change allows me to successfully apply the Inbox Zero concepts to my inbox, but I now have a different problem -- managing my calendar.

Previously, I had to give little to no thought on how I spent my day. I only had to sift through my inbox to find the most important crisis. So the "change cycle" that I am currently in is that my in box no longer "fills my day". To have some focus for the day, I now need to write down some goals and then put them on my calendar. Other than turning an e-mail into a meeting on my calendar, I have been wondering why there aren't there more tools to put tasks on your calendar.  Additionally, many of the "task managers" are good with "due dates", but not "doing dates".

Does anyone have any good recommendations for tools to help in this manner? I would be especially interested if they integrated with Evernote, Outlook, and GTD philosophy. If you do, please send me an e-mail or DM me at @AnAgileMindset.

Binary Clarity Defined

A phrase often heard at my workplace is "binary clarity". While it is often heard (mostly from my lips), it is less understood, and even less frequently internalized. Starting with the dictionary can help us:

Binary -- consisting of, indicating, or involving two.
Clarity -- clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity.

I especially like the last phrase in the clarity definition -- "freedom from ambiguity". Software and our language about the software we produce is filled with ambiguity, how can we ever be completely free from it? My answer has always to been to use language that is binary. By doing so we can dramatically reduce our ambiguity. Credit for this concept goes back over a decade to a Project Management Seminar that I took where the instructor used the phrase -- "Binary Completion Criteria".  Again, using the dictionary again, we find:

Criteria-- a standard of judgment or criticism; a rule or principle for evaluating or testing something.

I note the last phrase again -- "testing something".  When we put these three words together, it's clear that it is very relevant in our current agile/lean age. Our best criteria are tests. Tests can be expressed in binary fashion and their results increase our understanding. Anthony Boobier, writes in "Splitting a User Story",  If User Story A has completion that is binary; it is either 'Done' or ‘Not done’. He defines binary completion to mean mean the acceptance criteria must be met.   The best acceptance criteria is testable. Testing allows you to get to pass/fail == "binary"

Beyond the software itself, this can also be applied to our language. At a Webinar on Scrum and Kanban, Kent Beck made the statement, "Never underestimate the time you will spend defining 'done' ". I agree and add as a corollary, it is time well spent if it removes ambiguity. (See recent post with reference to "Done", "Done, Done" , and "Done, Done, Done").   For any task, we can decrease our ambiguity if our common language is binary: yes/no, black/white, etc.

Bottom line when I use the phrase -- "binary clarity", it is just a means to an end -- "Freedom from Ambiguity". In our daily work lives, what could be better than that?