What do I do when I...

The page below provides an overview of how to accomplish various tasks using the tools described on the site. It is a work in progress. Please feel free to login to the wiki to add questions and answers. The goal is to have a paragraph of text for each main topic with links out to blog entries or other wiki pages for more in-depth information. For background or discussion, see the related blog entry.

=get an email that should be a project task in MM (and Outlook)?=

Use OutLinker to send the task to MindManager. OutLinker will archive the message to a folder, create a topic in MindManager with the text of the message in the note, a link to the archived message as the hyperlink, and a copy the message file as an attachment. The topic can be sent immediately using the "MindReader" button or sent later via GyroQ using the "Queue" button. There is also an option to create a new map for the project right away. Finally, OutLinker also provide the option to manage the task in the OutLook task list by hitting the "TaskList" button. This is a very powerful feature that can be used by folks who don't even have MindManager (see OutLinker Lite).

Having the task show up in both MindManager AND OutLook requires use of the Beta "ao_next_actions_to_outlook" macro.

=get a phone call (or voicemail) that should be a task in MM (and Outlook)?=

Use the q tag to type out the task and process it into MindManager.

=think of a new idea that needs project planning?= The fastest option is Using_the_MindReader_q_tag and just typing "project goal isproject[enter]". This will send it to your Daily Capture Map with a project marker and it will subsequently show up in your "Projects needing next actions" list on the Daily Actions dashboard. You could also type "project X isproject << plan project X @maps 15m] and the "begin with the end in mind" << operator will add a next action reminding you to do it.  If you have MindManager open, you have the option of Using the MindReader nm tag to create a dedicated project map for the project.

=want to actively manage all of the tasks in my projects to load balance?=

Get your projects and tasks into MindManager and linked together via a Map Central and then run the ResultsManager Daily Actions dashboard to see a view of your responsibilities. To see the responsibilities of your whole team, use one of the custom dashboards in the ResultsManager Dashboard Library.

=want all of my tasks synced with my smartphone?=

See the Smart Phone section of the Synchronization page. Two way task synchronization is challenging when you consider all the changes that can be made to a task in either its home map or on the smart phone. It is easier to manage a one way flow of information. For example, you can email yourself a task from your smart phone and then process it into you Maps with OutLinker. You can mail yourself your full set of tasks as a set of context-focused emails using the You've got Mail script. There is a beta macro (ao_next_actions_to_outlook.mmbas) that does a basic syncronization, but it will not detect updates to target dates or other settings for tasks sent to OutLook.

=need to pull in an RSS feed to keep up to date on a specific project?=

See Using MindManager as a Twitter Reader. You can add the RSS feed using a smart map part, but additional processing with macro will help you keep track of what you have already processed from it.

=want to actively manage the Outlook Task and Calendar information of a team of people to load balance? (and they do not use MM)?=

Convince them to use MM :-).  One option is to manage task information yourself but utilize a variation of "You've got Mail" script to email out task information on a regular basis.

=add a new context in which I do activities or projects?=

=need manage tasks and activities that are related to a particular area?=

=manage a project that has a task that is relying on a response or action from another person?=

=when I reach the end of the year?=