I've discussed how I use Outlook search folders at length and, more recently, alluded to my use of how I combine this with colored flags and views to manage my e-mail and RSS subscriptions. What might not have been obvious, however, is that I use this system to implement GTD. I've been following the system, or at least its general principles, for awhile now. I took a half-day seminar with Jason yesterday. I told him I would pass along some of these things I'm doing, so rather than put them in an e-mail, I figured I'd share with all.
In the latter entry, I discussed 4 primary ways I use these things. I still create tasks and do most of the major things specified by the GTD system, but for certain things that come through as e-mail/subscriptions and require little processing before being actionable, I use flags and search folders.
Actionable Items
Anything that is actionable gets a colored flag.
I use the search folders without criteria to combine similar types of subscriptions or e-mails. I use this as a logical way to ensure higher priority items are processed first. Personal, unread e-mail is always first. Then there is a combination of subscriptions, mailing lists, etc.
The various colored flags basically map to the different lists. Purple is my @Blog list - anything I read that I want to remember to write about gets purple. @ToBuy is green. @Computer list is orange. @Email list is red. @Calls are yellow.
Search Folders & Views
My default view filters all flagged items, so as soon as I decide that it is actionable I no longer see it in the "Processing" view. This is where search folders come in - I have a separate search folder for every category (colored flag) I discussed above.
Weekly Reviews
I have a couple of search folders based on Alex's tip for finding older items based on date. There are two types of relevant items here: actionable items that perhaps fell through the cracks, and items which I apparently didn't process (if they were processed, they would have either been actionable, incubated, or flagged).
This is how I make sure nothing has fallen through the cracks.
Other tips
Outlook lets you specify whether to show the total number of items or only the number of unread items. (The former is the view used on your Drafts folder; the latter is the default for all folders). There are certain folders I want to keep as close to zero as possible (e.g., the old and flagged folder discussed above), so I change the view to show total items. This allows me to instantly recognize when something hit that folder. As soon as something hits Old & Actionable folder, I get a visual cue, even if I've already "read" it (which I did, because I processed it in the first place).
Expanding Search Folders to include tasks
Unfortunately, it looks like my tip stopped working (for myself and others). I'm investigating. If there's anyone on the Outlook/Exchange team who might be able to explain this limitation to me, it would be greatly appreciated! Otherwise, maybe I'll put VSTO for Outlook to work...