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Best Practices for Microsoft Outlook 2007
 
By Melissa MacBeth
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Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide customers of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 guidance on how to best use the product. Created by the product team who created Outlook 2007, this guide represents our advice on how to get the most out of Outlook 2007. By no means comprehensive, it covers just a few core scenarios.

This guide is for people who:

  • Work for a large company with an IT department.
  • Receive more than 30 e-mail messages a day.
  • Spend lots of time every day using Outlook 2007 to send and receive e-mail and to set up and/or attend meetings.
  • Are using Outlook 2007 with a Microsoft Exchange Server account.

Regardless of your server setup or organization size, this document will be useful to you.

 Note   screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsIf your environment includes Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Microsoft Office Communicator, Microsoft Office OneNote 2007, a Windows Mobile phone, or Microsoft Office Groove, you will be able to get more out of this guide through the integration of Outlook 2007 with these products.

Why an Outlook "Best Practices" document?

We set out to write this for the best possible reason: Our customers asked. We designed Outlook 2007 to be used by a wide audience with many work needs and styles. Although there's no one "right way," there are a few ways of working in the program that we know to be easier than others. We hope that by being aware of the best practices, you will have the best experience possible using the software.

About this document

This document is not a Help article, though it does refer to Help articles throughout. Each best practice is intentionally very prescriptive. Many additional questions may be answered in the FAQ and References at the end of this paper.

For IT administrators

Sentences marked with the Office logo and globe iconscreen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrants are references to other Office 2007 products such as Office OneNote 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, and Groove 2007. Sentences that mention AutoArchive and Personal Folders files (PSTs) are marked with an icon of a file cabinetautoarchive icon. Sentences that include these references can be removed without a loss of fidelity to the overall document and work flow.

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Basic principles of good time management

Outlook 2007 is a tool to help you manage your e-mail, calendar, contacts, and tasks. As such, it is at the center of not only your communications but also your time-management. To get the most out of Outlook 2007, we suggest a few basic principles:

  1. Reduce the number of places you read e-mail   Filter all of the messages you need to read into one place — your Inbox — using a series of rules.
  2. Let some e-mail pass by  Use rules to send e-mail you need to read to your Inbox and then let the rest flow into distribution list folders, untouched. You don't need to read every message sent to you. Only the important ones should go to your Inbox. Remaining messages can be useful to keep — in case you get looped in on an issue, for example.
  3. Reduce the number of places where you manually file messages   Reduce the mental tax of filing by relying on search to locate messages.
  4. Process your e-mail using the 4 Ds   When reading a message, decide whether to:
  5. Reduce your to-do list to one list   Use a single to-do list and calendar to manage what you need to do.
  6. Work in batches   Use categories to help you group similar tasks together.
  7. Use good judgment when sending e-mail   Follow the dos and don'ts of writing great e-mail. Review your time and tasks regularly.

Even if you don't subscribe to all of the best practices described here, following just a few will improve your experience with Outlook 2007.

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Setting up Outlook 2007: The layout

The first step in following these best practices is to set up a system to optimize how you use Outlook 2007.

It is considered best practice to have:

  1. The Navigation Pane open on the left.
  2. Your mail in conversation view, with mail sent directly to you automatically formatted in blue.
  3. The Reading Pane on the right.
  4. The To-Do Bar open on the far right.
  5. Cached Exchange Mode (Cached Exchange Mode: A copy of your Exchange Server account mailbox is saved on your computer in an offline Outlook Data File (.ost). This copy provides quick access to data, including when you work offline, and is synchronized with the mail server.) turned on. If your screen resolution is less than 1024 by 768 pixels, the To-Do Bar may be minimized.

For details on how to set up the layout, see the FAQ at the end of this paper.

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Folders

It is considered best practice to have:

  • An Inbox   This is for e-mail that you need to process (deal with). Your Inbox is for mail sent directly to you or mail that could be important for you to read.

    If you receive many messages that go back and forth among several different people, use the conversation arrangement. Otherwise, use the date arrangement (the default arrangement). Use automatic formatting rules to make all messages sent only to you appear in blue.

  • A single reference folder   This folder under the Inbox is for all reference material that you might want to refer back to later. Nothing is automatically filed (i.e., with a rule) into this folder. Name this folder "1-Reference." (Adding the 1- will cause it to be the first item under the Inbox.) This folder is created under the Inbox so that you can collapse the Inbox and remove it from view. autoarchive icon Set this folder to auto archive annually.

     Note   If this folder becomes too large (10,000 items or more), Outlook 2007 may become slow when switching to this folder.

  • A folder for career-related, private, and personal e-mail   Having a separate folder for personal and career-related information gives you the freedom to search for a message while someone is standing over your shoulder without having to worry that a personally sensitive message will appear. Name this folder "2-Personal."

    Managers might have a single folder for feedback on their employees called "4-Management."

    autoarchive icon Set these folders to auto archive annually.
  • A set of folders for distribution list (DL) e-mail messages   Every message sent to distribution lists (also known as list servers or mailing lists) does not necessarily need to be read. This set of folders is the repository for all of the DL messages that are not automatically filed into your Inbox. Create a single, top-level folder under your Inbox called "DLs" and then create a subfolder for each topic of DLs. Usually, one folder per DL is enough, but if you are on several related DLs, consider having all of the mail routed to the same folder.

    Collapse the top-level DL folder so that you are not distracted by the unread e-mail in the folders beneath it.

     Note   If you need to read every message on a DL, do not create a folder for it. These messages should go directly to your Inbox.

    autoarchive icon Set your DL folders to auto archive every six months, or more frequently if they are temporal (for example, a DL for finding carpool rides should be archived daily).
  • A set of folders for RSS feeds   Much like the set of folders for DLs, RSS represents another set of data that may sometimes have interesting information but doesn't need to be read consistently or with the same sense of urgency as mail sent directly to you. Outlook 2007 creates these folders automatically.

Search folders

Search folders are useful for gathering information from across different e-mail and RSS folders. Search folders can be especially useful when you need to gather information that is stored in different folders — for example, when preparing for a quarterly meeting.

If you receive a large volume of e-mail (more than 200 a day), search folders might be a good way for you to parse messages from different senders.

Favorite Folders (optional)

Favorite Folders give visibility to folders that are otherwise buried in your mail folder list.

screen shot of favorite folders

Favorite Folders, a subset of your mail folders, appear at the top of the Navigation Pane. Using Favorite Folders is not a requirement for this system to work, but if you have a small screen, you can minimize the Navigation Pane and still file your mail by dragging mail to the minimized bar, perform common searches, and navigate to the Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks.

It is considered best practice to have the following folders in your Favorite Folders:

  • Inbox
  • 1-Reference
  • Sent Items
  • Deleted Items

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Rules

The goal of organizing your Outlook is to reduce the amount of unnecessary "noise" in your Inbox and to make the most important items bubble up to the top. Rules help this process by moving e-mail into folders based on criteria that you set. Rules filter the messages coming into your Inbox for must-read items only.

It is considered best practice to have the following rules:

  • Automatic Replies   Move all responses to meetings that do not have content to Deleted Items. You can see who has accepted by checking the tracking tab inside the meeting window.
  • To: Me   Any e-mail sent directly to you, or with you on the Cc line, is sent to the Inbox and is not processed by other rules, even if it is also sent to a distribution list (DL).
  • Meeting Requests Sent to Inbox   All meeting requests, even if sent to a DL, should be sent to the Inbox.
  • Defer Sent Items   Defer sending messages by one minute or longer. When using this rule, be sure that your messages have been sent before you shut down your computer.

     Note   This is a client-side-only rule — it will not work on Outlook Web Access.

  • Distribution Lists   Any message sent to a distribution list (DL) is sent to a DL folder — unless its keywords suggest that it's important to you, in which case it is sent to your Inbox. Multiple DLs that are similar should use the same rule and be filed into the same folder. If you are a member of a DL for which you need to read every message sent to it, do not create a rule for it. Any e-mail that you have to read should go directly into your Inbox.

Your set of rules should look something like the following illustration when you finish organizing them.

screen shot of rules and alerts

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To-Do Bar

To-Do Bar in Outlook 2007

Callout 1  Navigation Pane
Callout 2 Appointments
Callout 3 A place to type tasks
Callout 4 Task List

The To-Do Bar is the panel on the right side of Outlook 2007. It shows you a calendar, your upcoming appointments, and your unified task list, which contains:

  • Messages you need to respond to (flagged e-mail)
  • Contacts you need to call (flagged contacts)
  • Tasks that come up spontaneously

The best practice for setting up the To-Do Bar is to:

  1. Show a Date Navigator (turned on by default).
  2. Show only three appointments if you have a small monitor or you do not have many meetings on a given day (default).
  3. Show five appointments if you have a large monitor or you have many meetings every day (five or more).
  4. Show tasks (turned on by default).

The default arrangement for tasks is by Due Date, but you might consider changing the arrangement to Start Date, depending upon how you use flags.

If you want to see the tasks that you have pushed out for next week on Monday, arrange by Start Date. If you want to see tasks on the day that they are due, arrange by Due Date.

Default Flag

It is considered best practice to set your Quick Click flag to Today, which is the default.

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Notifications

If you receive a lot of e-mail or you are easily distracted by the notification sound that plays for incoming messages, we recommend that you turn off the following settings:

  • The New Mail Desktop Alert
  • The envelope icon that appears in the notification area (formerly called the system tray)
  • The cursor briefly changing to an envelope
  • The sound that accompanies all of the above

For details, see the article Making Outlook a little quieter.

If you want to always be notified when a certain person sends you a message, you can create a rule called Play a custom sound when Outlook delivers new e-mail.

screen shot of advanced email options dialog box

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Categories

Categories in Outlook 2007 allow you to manage items in many different ways. There are three main types of categories that we recommend creating:

  • Project (can include people)
  • Topic
  • Location or activity

Categories are not a required aspect of this system, but they will make your life easier if you are diligent about using them. For example, they can help you more easily identify what can be done now and help you group similar tasks together so that you can do them all at once.

It is considered best practice to have a category for:

  • Each of your direct reports and your manager for things that you want to review the next time you meet (for example, "1:1 Owen").
  • Each of the major locations or types of activities that you do so that you can perform bulk actions (a useful part of managing your tasks), for example:
    @E-mail for tasks that involve e-mail, meetings, or any other aspect of Outlook 2007
    @Commute for tasks that you can do on the way home from work
    @Home for tasks that you can only do at home
    @Meeting for items that you need in order to prepare for a meeting
    @Offline for tasks that take you away from the computer, such as making a copy of a document
    @Online for tasks that you can only accomplish online or through a Web browser
    @Phone for calls you have to make or receive
    @Read for tasks that involve just reading — not responding. This category is good for long e-mail messages or attachments that you need to read but cannot get to right away.
    @Waiting for messages or tasks for which you await a response, but there is no explicit next action for you

 Note   Using the @ symbol in these categories makes them stand out in your category list. Marking @ before certain categories helps to keep these categories at the top of your category list and reminds you of where you should be when you are performing this task (for example, @phone is "at the phone").

  • Each important topic or project if you want to make sure that you can easily find messages on a given topic — especially if there is no word in the body or subject of the message that would make it appear in a search.
  • Important items to emphasize important tasks that must be done today and cannot roll over to another day.

screen shot of color categories dialog box, which has text about how to assign color categories

 Note   You can apply multiple categories to a single item — as opposed to filing, where items can live in just one folder at a time. For example, an important message that you want to discuss with your manager before you respond might be categorized with both the @e-mail category and the 1:1 <your manager's name> category.

Flagged message with 2 categories

Your Quick Click category should be the category that you apply most often.

As you will see, categories make e-mail and tasks stand out in your To-Do Bar, make searching more efficient, and help you get ready for meetings.

 Note   Be very careful about categorizing your outgoing messages — your recipients might be able to see your categories! If your recipients are not using Outlook 2007 or Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, they will be able to see the categories you set.

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Tame your Inbox with the 4 Ds

Once you set up your system, you are ready to begin managing incoming e-mail. By making your Inbox the central place for receiving important e-mail, you can go through it with the confidence that each item is something you need to deal with in one way or another.

For every message in your Inbox:

  1. If it isn't important, delete it immediately.
  2. If it can be done in two minutes or less, do it (reply, file, call, etc.).
  3. If it isn't for you or if you can, delegate (forward) it.
  4. If you need to do it, but it takes longer than two minutes (including reading), defer it (hold off on it).

If you need it as reference (even if you have decided to defer it), move it into your reference folder. The goal is to reduce the number of times you touch each message.

Delete it

Delete messages that you don't need to read. If it is junk, delete it.

Do it: The 2-minute drill

It is amazing what can be done in two minutes. But if a message takes longer than two minutes to deal with, defer it. To get a sense of what two minutes feels like, try timing yourself.

Once you have dealt with the message, do one of the following:

  • Delete it (if it is something of little consequence).
  • File it into one of your reference folders (for example, 1-Reference).

Delegate it

Sometimes you receive a message that is really meant for someone else to deal with. In these cases, reply and add the person to whom you are delegating the message on the To line. If you want to follow up later, flag it for yourself before sending. In your To-Do Bar, mark these tasks with the @Waiting category.

Defer it

Deferring a message means that you will come back to it later, when you have time.

Reasons to defer a message:

  • It cannot be dealt with in less than two minutes.
  • It will take a while to read.
  • It will require a carefully crafted response.
  • It requires additional action in another program (for example, "Need to add to <name> document").

How to defer a message: Flag it

When you decide that you don't have time to deal with a message right away, you can flag it:

  • If you need to do it today, flag it for Today (just click the flag).
  • If you know that you can put it off for longer, right-click and flag it for another date.
  • If you will need to refer to the message more than once and you want easy access to it, drag it to the Later group in the To-Do Bar. If you do not have a Later group, set the flag Start Date on the task to 100 years in the future. (Use this flag rarely so that it does not become an overpopulated catch-all.)
  • If it is something you will need in the short term, flag it No Date so that it appears at the top of the To-Do Bar. Be sure to use this group sparingly and clear it out regularly, because it is at the top of your task list.

In addition to flagging a message, you can:

  • Add appropriate categories.
  • Mark it as read, if it isn't already marked as read.
  • File it to your reference folder (1-Reference).

Once an item has been flagged, it will appear in the To-Do Bar. By filing it into your reference folder, you are getting it out of your view. But because it is in your task list, you can move on to your next e-mail message, knowing that you will return to your flagged items later.

If you want to add information to your tasks

If the subject of a message does not provide you enough context, you can do one of two things, depending upon the amount of information you need to add:

  • Change the name of the task in the To-Do Bar. Changing the name of the task will not change the subject of the e-mail message.
  • Create a task with the message as an attachment.

You can also add a category to help you know at a glance where your next action is. A quick glance at a To-Do Bar with categorized tasks will let you know what is immediately actionable (@Office), which tasks you are waiting on other people for (@Waiting), and what you'll be meeting about (@Meeting).

When do you deal with the tasks you deferred?

After you process your messages, you can tackle your task list. This is when you respond to those messages that you have deferred.

Just file it

Sometimes you receive a message that you do not need to act upon, but which you might need at a future date. A good example is a message with instructions. File these messages in your reference folder (1-Reference). Adding a category at this time will make it easier to find later if you need it (for example, @Project).

To file your message, you can do one of the following: drag it to the appropriate reference folder; click the Move to Folder command on the toolbar; right-click the message and click Move to Folder; or press CTRL+SHIFT+V to open the Move to Folder dialog box.

Move to Folder command on Outlook toolbar

After you finish processing your e-mail, you should have a clean Inbox and can switch your focus to your calendar and tasks.

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Daily review: Managing your time and tasks

It is considered best practice to set aside time every morning to manage your task list and your calendar. This includes:

  • Reviewing your appointments and meetings for the day and week ahead.
  • Reviewing your tasks and making adjustments.
  • Adding appointments to your calendar to make time to get your work done.

Saying no

As you review your calendar and your task list, be realistic about what you can accomplish. Sometimes that means saying no. Here are some ways to gain back time by saying no:

  • Decline meetings that you do not need to attend. Yes, you can do this.
  • Delete tasks that you don't need to do or that you know you will not do.
  • Send e-mail to let people know that you are working on a response (and be sure to flag it for yourself on send). It is better to let someone know that you will respond by a realistic date than have the person think that you forgot about the request.

Calendar management

The reality is that if you have a day filled with meetings, you will have less time to complete tasks and write e-mail, so move tasks to other days.

If a task is going to take a long time or if it is something you must do (as opposed to tasks you decide you do not need to do), drag it from the Daily Task List onto the Calendar to block off time.

Ways to create tasks

As you go through your calendar and tasks, inevitably you will start thinking of more things you need to do. Here are some ways to get tasks into Outlook:

  • Flag the e-mail messages.
  • Type in the Type a new task box at the top of the task list.
  • Use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+K to create a new task.
  • If you are driving, use the voice memo function on your mobile device or mobile phone to record your tasks and transcribe them later into your To-Do Bar.
  • screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsIf you are in a meeting, take notes in Office OneNote 2007. Flagged items in OneNote appear in the Outlook 2007 task list.

Ways to manage tasks

Here are some ways you can help yourself deal with your tasks:

  • Clean out tasks that you don't need to do. Your task list is your sacred space — do not let it get polluted or its utility will be lost.
  • Mark completed tasks complete so that they are removed from the To-Do Bar.
  • Make your tasks more actionable by changing the task subject of a flagged message. For example, a flagged message with the subject line "Cannot change group membership via keyboard" should be renamed "Reply to Yasu," which is the next action for this task. To change the task subject, click the item in the To-Do Bar and type a new subject. This subject will not change the subject of the e-mail message, just the subject you see in your task list.
  • Apply categories to help you identify where you need to be to take the next step and to make some tasks stand out.
  • Rearrange your tasks to group together similar tasks, such as tasks with the same category. To move a task, click the task in the task list and drag it. In this way, you can work on similar tasks together.
  • Drag tasks in the Daily Task List and in the To-Do Bar to the day you plan to do the task. For tasks that will take some time, drag the tasks onto the calendar to set aside time to get these tasks done.

Although it is good to be organized, do not spend a lot of time prioritizing and managing your task list. The process of managing your task list shouldn't take over your life!

Use your calendar: Create appointments to manage your time

Remember: There is always more to do than time to do it.

As part of good time management, you need time to deal with your e-mail, manage your appointments and tasks, and reflect on what you have to do.

You can schedule this time for yourself with regular appointments and meetings on your calendar. Your calendar should be treated as your real plan for your time — if you have scheduled it, then that is what you are committed to doing at that time.

Set aside time to:

  • Deal with your e-mail. Setting aside time to deal with e-mail is especially important if you receive a lot of e-mail. Even if you set rules so that only the important messages appear in your Inbox, you still need time to deal with those messages.
  • Do a daily and weekly review of your tasks and appointments. Look at your calendar and tasks, and evaluate your appointments and tasks against your priorities. If you have a busy calendar, this is the time for:
      • Clearing out conflicting appointments, because you can't be in two places at once.
      • Scheduling time to do work.
      • Reflecting on what you're doing, whether it's a valuable use of your time, and whether you're setting the right priorities.
  • Meet regularly with your manager. Regular meetings with your manager can help you explain what you are working on and help you reset priorities where needed. To set up a regular or recurring meeting, click the Recurrence button.

Recurrence button in Outlook meeting request mail

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Tasks: Doing your work

Weekly review

Looking at the whole picture of your time and your tasks will help you to prioritize important work over less urgent tasks. It will help you to make it clear to others what can and cannot be realistically expected of you to accomplish. Reviewing your past week and upcoming week is also a useful way to help you prepare for a weekly meeting with your manager or help you prepare a status e-mail message.

Where to do your work

screen shot of navigation pane, with tasks selected

Once you have processed your e-mail, the best place to do work within Outlook (reply to e-mail and so on) is in Tasks. By switching to Tasks, your view isn't distracted by e-mail arriving in your Inbox.

Bulk process your tasks

As you go through your task list and your calendar, do similar tasks together. For example, if you have just a few minutes, make all of your phone calls (if you have only a few). Tackle energy-intensive tasks (for some, that might be responding to e-mail) when you have more energy, and deal with your low-energy tasks such as reading status e-mail messages later in the day or whenever you have lower energy. By "bulk processing" your tasks, you will make progress on all of your projects at once.

One way to bulk process tasks is to change the arrangement from Arranged By: Start Date to Arranged By: Categories. To do this, click the Arranged By heading and select Categories.

screen shot of categories, with the arrangement of start date and show in groups checked

 Note   If you have tasks that are blocking other people from getting their work done, do those tasks first.

Finishing your tasks

As you finish your tasks, mark them complete. Outlook 2007 keeps the list of your completed tasks automatically. This can be a useful summary of what you've accomplished. If you don't need to keep a record of the task or the e-mail message, delete.

If you have a lot of work to do

If you have a lot of work to do, consider going offline to stem the tide of incoming e-mail distractions.

 Note   You can continue to work in Outlook 2007 only if you are using Outlook 2007 in Cached Exchange Mode (Cached Exchange Mode: A copy of your Exchange Server account mailbox is saved on your computer in an offline Outlook Data File (.ost). This copy provides quick access to data, including when you work offline, and is synchronized with the mail server.), or working offline using an online mode account.

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Find that message: Searching effectively

How to find a message from a particular person

If you want to find a message from a particular person, type from: name in the search box in your reference folder (1-Reference).

Outlook 2007 search for message from person

How to find a message with an attachment

To find a message with an attachment, type hasattachment:yes in the search box.

Outlook 2007 search for message with attachment

For more tips on how to perform efficient searches, see the article Learn to narrow your search criteria for better searches in Outlook and the video Find needles in a haystack with Instant Search.

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Write great e-mail

The following rules will help you look professional and get your message across.

Basic rules of great e-mail: The dos

  1. Read your message before you send it.
  2. Make your subject descriptive and action-oriented. For example, "UCEF: Please send your Board Retreat Dates," where UCEF is the name of the group, and "Please send" is the action. Other useful prefixes include "FYI:" and "Action Required."
  3. If action is required, state what you want on the Subject line.
  4. Change the subject of the message if the topic of the conversation changes.
  5. Keep all messages short and to the point.
  6. Organize the content of your message from most important to least.
  7. Consider bolding important information.
  8. Put action items or questions on separate lines so that they stand out and get noticed.
  9. Bold people's names when asking questions. For example: Ryan: What is the status of the project?
  10. Limit the number of people to whom you send the message to those who need to read it.
    • Put people who need to be informed on the Cc line.
    • Put people who need to respond or take action on the To line.
  11. Use a signature when appropriate, but keep your signature simple, short, professional, and if possible, free of graphics.
  12. If you want an immediate response, don't send e-mail. Phone or screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrants send an instant message.
  13. If you are on an e-mail conversation that has more than 10 messages back and forth without a resolution, consider phoning or setting up a meeting to discuss and resolve the issue. E-mail is not always an efficient medium for resolving complex issues.
  14. Acknowledge messages that require a more extensive response. If you are too busy to respond with a full answer right away, let the sender know that you are looking into the issue and will respond by a certain time or date. Flag it for yourself to do later.
  15. Use High Importance (screen shot of a red exclamation point.) sparingly.

     Note   Even if you have set up the delayed send rule described in the FAQ, marking a message with High Importance will cause it to be sent immediately.

  16. If you are asking a question and there are several people who could respond, choose just one person, rather than sending it to the group.

The key to writing good e-mail is to empathize with your recipients. For a deeper look at e-mail etiquette, see this article.

Follow up: Flagging on send

When you are sending e-mail to someone from whom you need a response, do the following:

  1. Flag it for yourself on send.
  2. Change the name of the flagged e-mail task in the To-Do Bar to start with Follow Up.
  3. Mark it with the @Waiting category.

When you take these three steps, you know that your next action is to send another message or to look for a response.

 Tip   Reminding yourself to send another message is often more effective than flagging the message for your recipient. Similarly, when you promise to do something in a message, flag it for yourself so that you have a task in your To-Do Bar to remind you to keep your promise.

Basic rules of great e-mail: The don'ts

  1. Don't use stationery.
  2. Don't include your manager on every message you send.
  3. Don't send e-mail when you are angry. Better to write it, save it to your drafts folder, and come back to it later.
  4. Don't expect a quick response when sending long e-mail messages (over two paragraphs).
  5. Don't send a follow up message less than a day after the first message. If you don't hear back in a timely manner, try using the telephone or screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrants instant messaging.
  6. Don't use read receipts or delivery receipts on every message you send. Use them only if you are unsure whether your recipients will receive the message.
  7. Don't attach flags or screen shot of a red exclamation point. on every message you send. Your recipients will learn to ignore them.
  8. Don't use ALL CAPS. Use italic instead.
  9. Don't send attachments — send links instead. This rule applies especially to meeting requests, where attachments can contribute significantly to your and your recipients' server quotas.
  10. Don't expand distribution lists. Expanding distribution lists makes messages harder to read and causes them to go into the wrong folders.
  11. Don't use sarcasm. Your humor may be misunderstood.
  12. Don't write something you wouldn't want everyone in your company to read. You never know where your e-mail might end up.
  13. Don't use cursive or "funny" fonts that are hard to read.
  14. Don't use red fonts, because they are hard to read and can be interpreted as being critical.
  15. Don't send a Reply to All to a distribution list asking to be removed. Ever.

Rules for distribution lists (DLs)

  • If you are responding to a large distribution list, follow all of the e-mail Dos and Don'ts.
  • If you need more information or are investigating the issue separately, respond to the whole distribution list with "taking offline" or "investigating," and then reply to the individual separately. Be sure to respond to the distribution list once the issue is resolved with the resolution so that everyone knows what is going on. In this way, the resolution can be referenced by other people on the distribution list.

How to redirect people

If someone sends a message to a distribution list that you are a member of, and the message would be better answered by someone else or another distribution list, do the following:

  1. Reply with the correct distribution list or person on the To line.
  2. Have replies sent to the correct distribution list or person.
  3. Do not put the original distribution list on the Bcc line because your message will not be filtered by other people's rules. Rather, leave the distribution list on the To or Cc line.

How to be removed from a DL

If you receive mail from a distribution list that you do not want to be on, send a message to your network administrator or to the owner of the distribution list and ask to be removed. Do not reply to the whole distribution list. To find the DL list's owner, double-click the distribution list name.

How to use inline comments

Adding inline comments to e-mail you receive can be an effective way to answer questions and respond directly to issues.

It is considered a best practice to do the following:

  1. In your message, mention that you are commenting inline. For example, include "See additional comments below."
  2. Differentiate your text from the original message. Some suggestions include:
    • Changing the font color
    • Pre-pending your name or initials in brackets, for example, [Melissa], [MM]

      Image

    • Changing the font to italic or bold or both
  3. Do not delete anything you did not write.

When to use Bcc

Use the Bcc option to remove extra people from an e-mail conversation when you deem that they no longer need the extra e-mail or if the conversation topic has changed.

For example, if you are one of five people who receive a question and you want to answer it, move the other four people to the Bcc line and state something like "Bcc'ing Joe, Jeff, James, and Jennifer. Here's the answer…" Future messages will then be between only you and the original sender.

Do not use Bcc to let a third party (such as your manager) know about a sensitive e-mail. The Bcc recipient may not realize that they have received a Bcc message and may respond to everyone, exposing that they have received a Bcc. This may come across as sneaky behavior on your part.

Rather than using Bcc to inform a third party of an issue, forward the message after you send it.

Preparing for vacation

For the best practice for preparing to be on vacation, see the article Preparing to be away. If you or your administrator has created a shared vacation calendar, be sure to post your vacation there. If everyone is using the shared calendar, you don't need to send a separate meeting request to let everyone know you are away, as the article referenced earlier suggests, but an e-mail message can act as a good reminder.

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Calendar and meetings

The best guidance on meeting dos and don'ts can be found in the article Outlook meeting requests: Essential do's and don'ts. See the Office Training course Calendar I: Outlook calendar basics for video instruction on using the calendar.

When is it appropriate to call a meeting?

Call a meeting when:

  • A new group of people is working together for the first time.
  • More than 10 relatively long e-mail messages have gone back and forth among a group of people.
  • Discussion, brainstorming, or collaboration is needed.

Call a meeting when it is the most efficient way to move forward, and be clear what the objective of the meeting is before you call the meeting.

Whom to invite

Only invite people who need to be involved. Each additional person you invite to a meeting adds to the complexity of the meeting, making it harder to control. On the other hand, if a decision needs to be made, make sure all of the key stakeholders are present, or the meeting will be a waste of time and resources.

How to choose a time to meet

Choose a time when everyone can meet by looking at the invitees' free/busy information in the calendar.

Free/Busy grid

For more information about how to see free/busy information, how to set up a recurring meeting, and how to set up a meeting in general, see the article Schedule a meeting and the Office Training course Get out of your Inbox with Outlook 2007.

When to meet in person or remotely

Meet in person if:

  • It is the first time this group will be working together.
  • Non-electronic items will be shown and passed around.
  • It is a brainstorming meeting.*
  • It is a collaboration-intensive meeting.*
  • Not everyone has a phone, screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsOffice Live Meeting, or the proper electronic meeting software and equipment.

Otherwise, consider using Live Meeting or meeting by phone.

* In these cases, Live Meeting can still be an effective way of holding a meeting. For tips on how to use Live Meeting, see:

 Tip   If you are traveling to the meeting location, schedule travel time on your calendar before and after the meeting.

How to handle related documents

In preparing for a meeting, often there are documents to be shared before or during the meeting.

  • screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsIf all of the attendees are connected to your corporate network, put the documents on a SharePoint site or on a shared network drive.
  • screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsIf any of the attendees are external from your company (for example, a vendor who does not have access to your intranet), consider using a Groove Workspace .
  • screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsIf a document workspace has already been created, send a link to it in an e-mail message.
Do not send attachments in your meeting requests.

Preparing an agenda: Let tasks help

  • @Meeting is your central spot for agenda items.

    Create a single task, mark it with the @Meeting category, and set the Start Date or Due Date to the date of your meeting. As the meeting date approaches and discussion points come up, add comments, bullets, and thoughts to the task as they occur to you. This task will become your agenda for the meeting. After the meeting, mark the task complete, and create new tasks for your action items.

  • If you want to discuss a set of e-mail messages or just one message…

    If you have a message you want to discuss at a meeting, flag that message for the day of the meeting and mark it with the @Meeting category. If you have more than three messages to discuss, don't flag each one because they will pollute your task list. Instead, create a new task with the name of the meeting; right-click and drag the messages to the task (copying as you go). Mark this task with the @Meeting category.

  • If you want more room for your thoughts…

    screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrants If you are collaborating with other people or just need more room for your thoughts, consider using a Office OneNote 2007 notebook, which can be shared either through a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server site or on a local server. Office OneNote 2007 provides a richer note-taking experience than does Outlook 2007 tasks.

During the meeting: How to collaborate

The tool that you use to collaborate during a meeting depends on the location and access of your participants.

  • If you are collaborating on a document and everyone is in the same room, use the Track changes and Comments features in Office Word 2007. (See this video.)
  • screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsIf you are presenting and some people are remote, use Live Meeting and the chat features of Live Meeting.
  • screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsIf you want to collaborate in a more ad hoc fashion, you can use Office OneNote 2007 to take notes together in a single notebook. If the notebook is not a shared notebook, send the notes in e-mail after the meeting.
  • screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsIf you are taking notes or minutes for the meeting, you can also use Office OneNote 2007 to insert meeting details from Outlook into your notes. After the meeting, you can send your notes to the attendees as an e-mail message.

How to end a recurring meeting

When a series of meetings has run its course, rather than canceling the meeting (which will remove all historical instances of the meeting), change the recurrence pattern to end on the last occurrence of the meeting. To do this, click the Recurrence button and change the end date.

When and how to share your calendar

2 shared calendars side by side in Outlook

You might not need to share your calendar, because everyone within your organization can see when you are free or busy (but not necessarily the content or subject of the meetings and appointments). For more details, see the article Introduction to calendar sharing and the video 3 ways to share your Outlook calendar with others. However, you can easily share your calendar with your team if you want them to be able to see all of your meetings and appointments.

You might want someone else to manage your calendar on your behalf, for example, an assistant who can accept or decline meetings for you. In that case, you can delegate your calendar. If you delegate your calendar, choose only one person: Do not make everyone a delegate of your calendar. Having more than one delegate can cause errors in your calendar.

screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsCreate a SharePoint calendar for group activities that everyone has access to, rather than sharing your calendar. For example, create a calendar on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server to keep track of the group's vacation schedules.

Send your calendar in an e-mail message when you set up meetings with people who cannot see your free/busy information, such as people outside of your company.

 Note   Whether your calendar is shared depends on the version of Microsoft Exchange Server your system is running and how your administrator has configured the server.

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Contacts

When to use Outlook 2007 Contacts in a corporate environment

Even if you work for a company with a Global Address list, there will still be occasions when you want to keep a contact in Outlook 2007. Create contacts for:

  • People who are outside your company.
  • People for whom you want to remember something or add information to their contact, such as their birthday.
  • People whom you want to sync to your mobile phone, especially if your phone is not connected to your corporate address book, or for cases where you do not have connectivity.

When to create a personal DL in Outlook 2007

Create personal distribution lists in Outlook 2007 when you want to make it easier to send e-mail to a group of people outside your corporation. For all groups inside your corporation, create a public distribution list (ask your IT administrator about how to do this).

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Frequently asked questions

Why show the Reading Pane on the right and not the bottom (or off)?

Reading a longer column of narrow text is easier than reading a shorter, wider section of text. This is because it is easier to move your eyes down than left to right over long distances, which can cause you to move your head and neck and lead to fatigue. It is better to have the Reading Pane on, so that you don't have to open each message to read its contents.

What to do with folders I don't need anymore?

The Navigation Pane folder list should be reserved for folders you use often. If it's filled with folders you don't even recognize, move all mail into the reference folder and delete your existing folders.

How can I make all messages sent only to me blue?

  1. On the View menu, point to Current View, and then click Customize Current View.
  2. In the dialog box, click Automatic Formatting.
  3. In the Automatic Formatting dialog box, click Add.
  4. In the Name box, type Me, and then click Font.
  5. In the Font dialog box, select Blue on the Color menu, and then click OK.

    screen shot of the automatic formatting dialog box, featuring "rules for this view"

  6. In the Automatic Formatting dialog box, click Condition.
  7. In the Condition dialog box, select the Where I am check box next to The only person on the To line and then click OK until all of the dialog boxes are closed.

Setting condition for automatic formatting

When should I use conversation view?

Conversation view is useful when:

  • You check your e-mail less frequently, and therefore have more messages to view at a time.
  • You have many e-mail threads that have a lot of back-and-forth discussion.
  • You need to see the context of who has responded to whom.
  • You get a lot of e-mail.

By viewing your e-mail messages in conversation view, you can easily see which conversations have had the most back-and-forth discussion. In those cases, you might want to read and respond to only the last message in the conversation. You can also select an entire conversation and act on it. For example, there might be a lengthy series of messages where the last one simply states, "Thanks, that answers my question," so you can just delete the whole conversation.

Should I keep personal and business e-mail together?

Reducing the number of places you read your e-mail does not mean that you should mix your work e-mail and your personal e-mail. A best practice is to use separate mail accounts for work and personal communications. You should, however, reduce the number of e-mail addresses that you have to deal with. Fortunately, with Outlook 2007, you can view multiple accounts at once (though only one Exchange Server account at a time). Hence, you can view your work e-mail (Exchange Server) in one data file and your Hotmail (with the Office Outlook Connector) and/or Gmail account in another data file, all while in working in the same profile in Outlook 2007.

How do read and unread states help me?

Unread/Read states in Outlook 2007 help by showing you quickly which items have been read at least once and which have not. However, the read and unread states of e-mail can be easily manipulated, so they're not a perfect record — just a tool.

 Tip   To quickly mark a message as read, press the keyboard shortcut CTRL+Q. To mark it as unread, press CTRL+U.

Why isn't unread/read state enough?

Some people try to use the read and unread states to indicate whether a message is new or a reference item. But unread state is unreliable, because as soon as a message loses focus (when you click another message), it is automatically marked as read. Inevitably, messages will be reread, and the mental tax of figuring out what you need to do will be paid again. A far more efficient Inbox plan is to go through your messages and decide what to do with each one as you open it. Then it should leave your Inbox — not remain "unread."

Why should I file my messages?

It is a best practice to have a central repository for your e-mail messages, so that you can refer to them after you've "dealt" with them. By having a limited number of folders to look in (1-Reference and 2-Personal), you don't have to worry about misfiling a message or needing to copy it into multiple folders if it applies to more than one topic or project.

That's not to say that there isn't a need for browsing through e-mail that is all on a particular topic or project. Outlook 2007 provides better tools — such as categories and search folders — so you can search effectively.

Why should I have only one reference folder?

By having a single folder, you don't have to think about which folder holds which items, and you know that everything in this folder is something that you have looked at before and wanted to keep.

Having multiple folders means that each time you file a message, you are forced to wonder which folder to use. This becomes even more complicated if there is more than one appropriate folder per item. Since many folders go unused when there are multiple choices, this creates clutter.

Although it might seem like a big deal to leave all of your messages in your Inbox, there is a hidden cost you pay every time you look at a message and wonder, "Is this something I have to deal with or is this just here for reference?" There is also peace of mind gained from having an Inbox filled only with new things. Your Inbox is a place that other people can manipulate; what you put in your reference folder is strictly up to you.

Why do I need different folders for DLs?

  • Different archiving rates   You should have different folders for different distribution lists (DLs) based on topic and frequency of AutoArchiving. For example, if you are on a carpooling DL, the e-mail in the Carpool folder should be deleted daily. A DL covering a work-related topic should be archived less frequently, such as annually.
  • Efficient conversation grouping   When you have separate folders for topical DLs, you can see entire conversations grouped together. Should you need to, you can efficiently search within a folder.

Why do I need separate folders for DLs and RSS?

E-mail sent to large distribution lists and to RSS feeds can easily overwhelm your Inbox. Treat these streams of information much as you would the Sunday New York Times: There might be a useful or interesting article, but reading the whole paper would take more than a day. Let rules help you to read what is most interesting and pertinent to you.

Which DLs should go to a folder instead of my Inbox?

Good candidates for a distribution list rule and folder are distribution lists that:

  • Receive a lot of e-mail.
  • Are directed to many people.

Corporate-level e-mail with important news (for example, from the CEO) and messages from your IT department about server downtime should not go into a folder. Messages to a DL that only occasionally contain useful or interesting content, regardless of frequency, should have a rule and a folder.

How do I set up rules for RSS?

If you subscribe to several RSS feeds, treat them like another distribution list. Move the interesting RSS items (based on keywords) to the Inbox; otherwise, let them be automatically filed into RSS folders.

What if I have Managed Folders or another retention or archiving solution?

Use the different Managed Folders in place of AutoArchive, and as always, follow your corporate policy! If your corporate policy dictates that you have multiple folders for each type of item, follow that policy.

How do I set up the "automatic replies" rule?

  1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
  2. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule.
  3. In the Rules Wizard, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
  4. Under Step 1, select the Uses the form name form check box. (You may need to scroll down to find this option.)
  5. Under Step 2, click Form name, and then select Accept Meeting Response and Tentative Meeting Response. After you add the two forms, click Close and then Next in the main Rules Wizard window.

    screen shot of the rules wizard, with the application forms "accept meeting response" and "tentative meeting response" selected and added

    Be sure to select Application Forms from the drop-down list at the top of the dialog box, or you might miss Accept Meeting Response and Tentative Meeting Response.
  6. Select the following exception: Except if the body contains specific words.
  7. In Step 2, click Specific words, type a space, and then click Add and then OK.

    screen shot of rules wizards, showing step 2: edit the rule description

  8. Click Finish.

How do I set up the "To: Me" rule?

  1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
  2. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule.
  3. In the Rules Wizard, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.

    screen shot of the rules and alerts wizard, showing the to:me rule

  4. Select the Where my name is in the To or Cc box check box, and then click Next.
  5. Select the condition Stop processing more rules (you may need to scroll down to find this option), and then click Finish.

screen shot of the rules wizard, showing step 2, and "stop processing more rules"

How do I set up the "meeting invitations sent to Inbox" rule?

  1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
  2. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule.
  3. In the Rules Wizard, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
  4. Select the condition Which is a meeting invitation or update (you may need to scroll down to find this option), and then click Next.
  5. Select the action Stop processing more rules (you may need to scroll down to find this option), and then click Finish.

screen shot of rules wizard, showing "which is a meeting invitation or update"

How do I set up the "defer sent items" rule?

  1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
  2. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule.
  3. In the Rules Wizard, click Check messages after sending, and then click Next.
  4. Click Next again, which will apply this rule to every message you send.
  5. Select Defer delivery by a number of minutes.
  6. In Step 2, click A number of and then click OK in the Deferred Delivery dialog box. (The Minutes box will show a default of 1.)
  7. Click Next.
  8. Select the following exception: Except if marked as importance.
  9. In Step 2, click Importance and then select High importance.

    screen shot of rules wizard, showing "except if if is marked as high importance"

  10. Click Next and name this rule Sent Items.
  11. Click Finish.

 Note   This is a client-only rule, which means that it will not work when Outlook 2007 is not running.

How do I set up the "distribution lists" rule?

For each distribution list that you are a member of where you do not have to read every message, create a rule.

  1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
  2. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, click New Rule.
  3. In the Rules Wizard, select Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
  4. Select the Sent to people or distribution list check box.
  5. In Step 2, click People or distribution list, add the distribution list (or similar distribution lists), and then click Next.
  6. Select the Move it to the specified folder and Stop processing more rules check boxes. (You may need to scroll down to find this option.)
  7. In Step 2, click Specified and select the appropriate distribution list folder, and then click Next.
  8. Select the following exceptions: Except if my name is in the To or Cc box and Except if the subject or body contains specific words.
  9. In Step 2, click specific words and type all of the keywords that would cause you to want to read the message. For example, if you are on a distribution list for general issues, but there are some issues that only you deal with, enter keywords for your issues. Click Add and then click OK.

     Tip   If you can think of no reason that you would want a message sent to this distribution list to be sent to your Inbox, consider asking to be removed from the DL.

    screen shot of rules wizard, showing under Step 2, "apply this rule after the message arrives"

  10. Click Finish.

 Note   Repeat steps 2 through 10 for each set of distribution lists (one rule per folder).

Why should I use rules?

As time goes on, you will likely receive more and more e-mail messages. You cannot read every message you receive — nor should you try to! Rather, just read the e-mail that is important for you to read. Rules will help you prioritize important e-mail and minimize distractions.

 Tip   Just because a message was sent to you (or to a distribution list you subscribe to) does not mean that you have to read it, nor is a response expected.

What dates do flags set?

Flag Start date Due date
Today Today Today
Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow
This Week Two days from now or last day of the work week, whichever comes first. (With the default settings, on Monday, this is Wednesday; on Tuesday, this is Thursday.) Last work day of the work week
Next Week First day of the next work week Last work day of the next work week

What should I do with tasks and flagged mail from years ago in my To-Do Bar?

If you are not actively using tasks or flags for any purpose, select all of the items, right-click and then select Delete. This action will delete old tasks and remove the flag from flagged messages and contacts without deleting the items.

What should I do with unused categories?

Delete all of the categories that you don't plan to use. The same category set applies to all items, so if you use a category for contacts, keep it.

What's the best way to choose colors?

When creating color categories, be thoughtful in your color choices. For example, do not choose the same color for @phone as @e-mail, but do choose similar colors (shades of green, for example) for all of your 1:1 categories. Over time, you will be able to look at your task list and determine just by color whether the task is presently actionable. For example, if @Home is purple, and you are at work, you can't do any purple tasks.

Why schedule time for myself?

By scheduling time for yourself on your calendar, your free/busy information will be updated and people will be less likely to schedule you for that time. If you have a busy calendar, this may be the only way you can get dedicated time to do your job.

It also helps you to make a commitment to doing work — if you put it on your calendar, you should be committed to doing that work at that time. If someone schedules over your work time, be sure to reschedule your time. Don't cheat yourself!

How do I handle the 10,000 messages in my Inbox?

If you have more than 20 items in your Inbox, process the last week of e-mail and then select all the rest of your e-mail and move it into your 1-Reference folder. Yes, you can do this, and it will feel great.

Why do I get so much e-mail?

If you feel overwhelmed by your e-mail, you are probably receiving more than you can possibly handle, and you may need to set up more aggressive rules. Try analyzing where your e-mail is coming from by arranging your messages by From and then collapsing all of the headers. Are you reading DLs that you don't need to read? If so, create a rule. If you change your view, don't forget to change it back!

I have 10 minutes; what should I read first in my Inbox?

If you are short on time, for example, between meetings, you can read the e-mail in blue — e-mail sent directly to you. Often these e-mail messages are waiting on you for the next step, and are the most important.

How often should I read my e-mail?

For many of us, reading e-mail is nearly an addiction. Spend 20 minutes in the morning going through your e-mail, and then turn your attention to doing a daily review of your task list. Then get on with your day! Limiting your e-mail time to once in the morning and once at the end of the day could significantly improve your productivity. Try it for a full week and see for yourself.

How can I manage complicated tasks?

screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsSometimes there are tasks that require more room for planning out what you need to do. For these tasks, use Office OneNote 2007. For example, if you are planning a project with multiple steps and nested tasks, Office OneNote 2007 is a more appropriate tool.

If you just want to remember a few related tasks, list them in the body of the task. If there are related e-mail messages, drag them into the task.

Should I keep personal and business tasks together?

If possible, keep your personal and business tasks in one place. Keeping one list reduces the number of places that you need to look for what needs to be done. Even if you already have only one list, use categories to sort your personal from business tasks and manage your list effectively. Your personal tasks will be stored on your company's Exchange Server computer and could be visible to your IT department, so only put appropriate personal tasks on your list.

What's wrong with keeping tasks in my head?

Keeping tasks in your head doesn't work. It is liberating to depend on Outlook 2007 instead of your overtaxed brain to keep track of your tasks. You can stop spending brain power reminding yourself of your tasks ("Okay, remember to e-mail John about the templates, e-mail John about the templates…") and focus on the activity at hand.

Why keep my tasks in Outlook?

Why a task list in Outlook 2007 works better than paper:

  • Paper lists can't automatically be kept up to date.
  • Paper lists can't be easily rearranged.
  • You can use Outlook Web Access to view your task list from anywhere.
  • screen shot of the office logo, a globe with 4 primary colors in interlocking quadrantsOutlook 2007 integrates with Office OneNote 2007 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and your mobile device or mobile phone.
  • Paper lists can be easily lost.

Advanced: How do I create a search folder for e-mail?

You can have easy access to a set of messages on a particular topic for a meeting. Create a category for your meeting, and then create a Search Folder with the following criteria: category <name> and not completed and from a certain time period. As you receive messages on that topic, mark them with the category. When you meet, mark complete on the messages that you have discussed.

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References

Books and other resources

There are many excellent books and philosophies of time management from the following sources:

Additional online resources


Photo of Melissa MacBeth

About the author

Melissa MacBeth is a Program Manager in the Outlook product group at Microsoft. She worked on several time management features for Outlook 2007, including the To-Do Bar, flags, flagging on send, and the Daily Task List. She lives in Seattle and enjoys gardening.

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