Battle of the Outlook Plugins

I have gotten away from using any plugins for Microsoft Outlook, because (1) Outlook is well-suited in its native form for productivity, and (2) I like to keep things as simple as possible. However, a lot of people like to tweak Outlook’s productivity capabilities with plug-ins, and I have used a couple of plugins in the past to do this. In this article, I briefly describe two such plug-ins:

• Netcentrics GTD Outlook Plugin
• FranklinCovey PlanPlus v.4 for Outlook

My personal favorite of these two is PlanPlus. Its downside is that it tends to slow Outlook down a little more than the GTD plugin does, but with the speed of today’s machines it is barely noticeable.

What I like most about PlanPlus is the way it helps you to focus on the Big Picture. For example, its Weekly Compass helps you think through your Roles and related actions:

Another really neat thing about PlanPlus is that it includes Pocket Informant 2007, which integrates well with PlanPlus, from its Master Task list through its integration with the Project Management Module of PlanPlus. The screenshot to the right indicates some of PI2007’s FranklinCovey-style support.

And, if you use Palm instead of a Pocket PC or Windows Mobile Smartphone, PlanPlus includes software that can be loaded on a Palm to keep all of the PlanPlus features at hand. This software even includes Mission and Daily Compass syncing support (Pocket Informant 2007 does not include support for these two items).

The software for both devices (and the plugin within Outlook) also support one of the most-loved features of the FranklinCovey system: the use of Daily Notes. And, any changes made on either device are synced back to the plugin with Outlook, and vice versa.

You can also implement GTD methodology using PlanPlus. That is another reason why I prefer it to the GTD plugin: you can implement GTD with it, but you can also implement FranklinCovey techniques with it. The GTD plugin is strictly for implementing GTD.

Speaking of the GTD Plugin, it really shines in the way it helps you manage your inbox. With a few clicks, you can turn an email into a Task, or you can defer reading of it until a different time, or you can set an appointment to implement it, and so on.

It also has a simple but useful project-management interface:

And, it offers a number of useful views for managing your Task lists and Appointments.

I discuss these two plugins in more depth at the following links: Using the PlanPlus Outlook Plugin and Getting in Control with the GTD Outlook Plugin.

What are your experiences with plugins in for Outlook? Do you prefer a different plugin to the two mentioned here, or do you prefer to not use plugins?