6 Useful Tips:
Better Views & Better Use of
Outlook Contacts and Calendar
When you use software like Outlook, Lotus Notes, Groupwise, Entourage, Palm, etc… you’re familiar with the e-mail part of it, but not always the rest of the tools to help you manage time and information. Some professionals never use certain modules, like Contacts or Calendar, and those who do, don’t always know how to maximize them in the best way to be most efficient.
From a productivity standpoint, here are 6 useful tips for viewing and using Calendar and Contacts in Outlook (or any similar software) more efficiently.
Calendar Tips
Tip #1: Use the week or month view. Viewing just the day puts blinders on us. It can limit our awareness of what’s coming around the corner. Using the week or month view is much more informative, although if you’re using a week view, I still recommend looking ahead regularly to see what’s coming up. This will help you plan tasks and time better and you can eliminate surprises when you review continually.
Tip #2: Get More Out of Your Month View. In Outlook 2007 the month view can give you up to 6 weeks, which is way too many. It doesn’t allow enough room to see what’s on each day. You can highlight 2 to 3 weeks in the little calendar on the left side of your screen (or on the right if you’re using Outlook 2003) and then only those weeks will show in your view. Your days will open up, showing all appointments for each day. Sadly it won’t stay this way as you jump back and forth from e-mail, calendar and contacts, but someday maybe Microsoft will give us that option. If you figure out how to lock that in, let me know!
Tip #3: Use colors to identify types of appointments.Examples are using green for personal, pink for networking, blue for office time, yellow for special weekly or monthly meetings. Leave at least one category color-free, like client appointments or whatever you do the most. Use color to make special things stand out, but avoid turning your calendar into a circus. It can become overwhelming.
Contacts Tips
Tip #1: Customize your columns. Use the “File as” column and put it first on the left. This means your list will be sorted by a common denominator – the last name – given that you have entered all the appropriate information: all first AND last names, which I highly recommend. Delete individual columns for first name and last name if they are both showing on your screen by clicking on the column headings and dragging them above the list until you see the black “X” and then drop it. Design the rest of your screen with just the information you want to see.
Tip #2: Use categories in your contacts. Use categories like Personal, Business, Vendors, Clients, Leads, etc… Use large categories to start with. Do not use small categories until the larger ones get too big. This will help you find who you’re looking for very quickly.
Tip #3: Use key words in the ‘Notes’ section of the Contact. This will help you find people you’re looking for when you don’t remember their name or company name. A search in Contacts will look at name, company and notes fields. So if you’re wondering how you’re going to find someone later because you won’t remember their name or company name, type something memorable in the ‘notes’ section about where you met them or what they do.
