Managing Outlook

presented by Anna Legrand

www.effectiveedge.com

“To Do” Items We hold between 3-7 items in our

conscious minds. We hold every emotion, thought,

hope, dream, worry and each of every 40,000+ images we absorb daily in our subconscious mind.

In addition to that, our subconscious minds hold all of our unrecorded ‘to do’ items.

Data Collection

Email

Cell Phone

Voice Mail

NotesFax

MailYour Head

In/Out Tray

What should we do?

Empty out your data collections regularly.

Collect data in a minimum number of locations.

Write things down immediately, instead of keeping them in your head.

How do we do that? Microsoft Outlook can help!

Action Types: Calendar

Time Specific: AT Ex. Call Mr. Smith at 9am Monday. What: Appointment How: double-click on the time and

type the action to create appointment.

Action Types: Calendar

Day Specific: ON Ex. Call Mr. Smith on Monday What: All Day Event How: double-click on date at the top

of day and type the action to create an all day event.

Action Types: Tasks

Due Date: BY Ex. Call Mr. Smith by Friday What: Task with Due date. How: Control+Shift+K and type the

action to create the task. Add the due date.

Action Types: Tasks

Due Date: NO Ex. Call Mr. Smith What: Task with No due date How: Control+Shift+K and type the

action.

85%-95% of your action items Do Not belong on your calendar.

Categories In Tasks

What are they For…..? Group similar actions. Streamline focus. Effective prioiritization

How to set up Categories

Click on TASKS in your folder list Celect CTL SHIFT K for “NEW TASK” Bottom Right, Select CATEGORIES Click on MASTER CATEGORY LIST Remove unnecessary categories Type in new categories and select ADD Select OK, then OK again, then close the

window, select NO Categories won’t show up until you have a task in the

category

Setting Up Taskpad Go to Tasks in Folder List. Right Click on the heading bar next to Subject and

select FIELD CHOOSER. Drag the ICON, SUBJECT, and DUE DATE tabs. Remove all others by dragging to FIELD CHOOSER. Select VIEW then ARRANGE BY then CURRENT VIEW

then CUSTOMIZE CURRENT VIEW. Select GROUP BY then select CATEGORIES from drop

down box. Select ALL COLLAPSED Sort by SUBJECT

Calendar View Select GO and click on FOLDER LIST Select VIEW again and click OUTLOOK BAR

off Select 1-DAY VIEW Show 2-3 months of calendar by placing

cursor between panel to make them larger or smaller.

Right Click on TaskPad Bar, select CUSTOMIZE CURRENT

Select GROUP BY then CATEGORIES Sort by SUBJECT

Two Type of Information in Outlook

ACTION ITEMS Task Pad Calendar

REFERENCE ITEMS Contacts Notes File Folders

Adding Contacts

Select CONTACTS from the Folder List Click NEW Add Information Click SAVE and CLOSE

Adding Notes

Two Types of Actions

What goes on the Daily Calendar Actions that occur AT a Specific Time Actions the occur ON a Specific Day, but

NO Specific Time. Recurring meetings and reminders

Use the large Box to

record information

This is for things that

must be done some time that

day

This is good for things that

recur with frequency

such as team and faculty meetings

Two Types of Actions

What goes on the TaskPad? Actions to be done BY a date Actions that have NO due date Project/Outcome Names – so we don’t

forget we have them!

Move Tasks to the Calendar

Go To Calendar View. Highlight the time on the Calendar. Right Click on task and drag to

highlighted time on calendar. Select Move Here… Save and Close

Create an Action Item from an Email

Decide if the email belongs in the CALENDAR (do ON a certain day or at a certain time) or in TASKS (due BY or no due date).

Left Click message and drag to Calendar or Tasks folder.

Edit Subject line, fill in any details, then Save & Close.

Insert an email into Calendar or Task.

Open existing appointment or Task. Click INSERT, select ITEM. Select message you want to insert. Click ok and the message will appear

as an envelope in the appointment.

How Do we use this to keep our inbox clean???

Ask: What is This? Is it an ACTION ITEM?

Yes No

If it is not an Action Item Delete It Reference It

Email Folders Notes Contacts Paper Files

Someday Maybe It Create a place to keep things that are

‘someday maybe items’

If it Is an Action Item

Is it a Project Yes?

What is the desired outcome? List Plan

No? What is the Next Action? DO IT IF IT CAN BE DONE IN 2

MINUTES OR LESS

If you cannot do it in 2 minutes Delegate It

In writing with detail

With Due Date With all Details

included Track using

‘Waiting For’ in Tasks.

Defer It Due on Specific

Day/Time? Calendar

Dues by a date or no due date? Tasks

Make The Commitment

This system only works if you make the commitment to do this every day.

Set aside 5-20 minutes each day to go through your emails and prioritize them.