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Is your Email killing your Productivity?

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Emails are a very dominant means of communication nowadays and it can take up hours of our time just checking, reading or answering emails. So let me ask you again, is your Email killing your Productivity?

If your answer to the above is YES, then below are just some simple email tips that can help you stay focused and more productive.

1. Turn-off any forms of Distractions (Email Alerts)

I have always preferred to turn off e-mail notifications in Outlook, particularly the blue notification rectangle that shows up everytime you receive a new email in Outlook versions 2003 and later.

Imagine this pop-ups appearing every 5 or 10 minutes, or even more often and the end result – your productivity is getting affected (even if you do not open and read the email immediately).

You can refer to an earlier post on how to Turn-off the Email alert in Outlook.

2. Automatically highlight important emails

You might receive hundreds of emails a day but this does not necessarily mean that all have to be dealt with immediately.

You can setup Outlook to automatically highlight or color-code important emails that require your immediate attention. This ensures that you are focusing your attention on the right emails.

3. Try to automate as many processes as possible (rather then doing it manually)

If you are using an email program such as Outlook, you can setup rules to perform some of the obvious tasks such as moving SPAM/JUNK emails out of the Inbox automatically. This saves you time which can be used for other important matters rather deleting individual SPAM emails.

4. Process your emails in batches

It’s not necessary to check emails throughout the day or work on them all day long. As noted above, more often you will find that not all emails require an immediate response. So try to process your emails in batches, you can answer the first lot of emails first thing in the morning and the others sometime in the afternoon.

This reduces frustration (that more often happens due to email overload) with emails and at the same time allows you to focus on other productive tasks through the day.

These are if you like some simple tips to help you stay focus and productive.

Do you have other methods of your own to stay productive?

Please share it with us and our readers by leaving a comment below.

Categories : Outlook Email Filing & Management Tip, Outlook Email Tips, Outlook as a Business Tool

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Improve Microsoft Outlook Performance – 2 Simple Tips

Posted by: standss | Comments (3)

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

If your Outlook is slow and unstable, it can seriously affect your productivity and may even lead to increased stress levels when you are not able to get your work done on time.

In this Post, we will provide you 2 simple tips which you can use to keep your Outlook fast and stable.

1. Maintain your Outlook Data (PST) Files

If you started using (or maybe are still using) Outlook before Outlook 2003 then your PST file (Outlook data file) is allowed a maximum size of 2 GB. This may still be true even if you migrated to new versions of Outlook since then.

If your pre-Outlook 2003 data file exceeds 2 GB then Outlook will not be able to open it… there’s also no warning built in to Outlook telling you that you are getting close to this dangerous limit. You might just come to work one morning and find that your Outlook does not open and you have lost all important emails, not forgetting the stress this will lead to and the time and money spent on getting it up and running.

It is for this reason that maintaining your PST files is very important. Here are a few things you can do to keep your PST files small:

Delete messages that you don’t need to keep (don’t forget the Sent Items folder)
Empty the Deleted Items folder regularly.
Compact your PST file occasionally to remove the empty space that remains even after you delete emails. (Click the Compact button shown in the screen above)

2. Disable Addins you don’t need

Running alot of addins (unnecessary addins) can drop the performace of Outlook making it slower. Disabling unnecessary addins is a great way to make your Outlook run faster, more reliably and take less memory.

To disable unnecessary addins:

If you are using Outlook 2000, XP and 2003:

Start Outlook and go to your Inbox.
Click Tools -> go to Options
Click on the Other tab
Click on the Advanced Options button
Click on the Com-Addins button. You will see your full list of addins installed.
Untick the checkboxes for all addins you want to disable
Click OK
Restart Outlook

If you are using Outlook 2007:

Start Outlook and go to your Inbox.
Click Tools -> Trust Center
On the screen that appear -> click on add-ins on the left side
Select Com-Addins on the Manage drop-down -> Click Go. You will see your full list of addins installed.
Untick the checkboxes for all addins you want to disable
Click OK
Restart Outlook

If you are using Outlook 2010:

Start Outlook and go to your Inbox
Click on the File tab > Options > Addins
Select “COM Add-ins” in the Manage drop-down
Click GO
Untick the checkboxes for all addins you want to disable
Click OK
Restart Outlook

I hope these simple tips will help you keep your Outlook performing faster, more reliably and keep your Outlook data safe.

Categories : Outlook Performance

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Why (and How) you should split your Outlook data file into 2

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Outlook by default saves all its e-mails into one file. Prior to Outlook 2003, there was a limitation of 2 GB to your Outlook data file. Although 2 GB seems like a lot, this space can be filled quickly particularly if you receive a lot of attachments.

Once you reach that limit, there is no real warning. Outlook just slows down, e-mails start getting lost and in some cases Outlook just stops opening altogether. Retrieving your e-mails from this corrupt PST is a nightmare.

In Outlook 2003, you have the option of using the new Unicode format of Outlook data file which can hold much more data. However if you upgraded Outlook from an earlier version then chances are that you are still using the older format with the 2 GB limitation.

Irrespective of whether you are using the new or old format data file, you should split your Outlook data into at least 2 files. Your main PST file should not be used like a filing cabinet for old e-mails. Create a separate PST file to save e-mails that you want to keep for future reference. This leaves your main Outlook data file lean and mean so that Outlook is able to open up quickly. To create a new Outlook data file:

For Outlook 2010:

Click on Home tab
Select New Items > More Items > Outlook Data File…
Outlook suggests a default location for the file. I recommend that you change this to a folder that you backup regularly, possible a sub-folder in your My Documents.
Enter a filename and click OK to create the file.

For Outlook 2003/2007:

Click File > New > Outlook Data File
Outlook 2003 Only: Outlook 2003 uses two types of Outlook data files. If you will be using the data only in Outlook 2003 or later, choose MS Outlook Personal Folders File. Otherwise choose the Outlook 97-2002 option.
Outlook suggests a default location for the file. I recommend that you change this to a folder that you backup regularly, possible a sub-folder in your My Documents.
Enter a filename and click OK to create the file.

You can create as many Personal Folder files as you need. Most users only need to create one in addition to the one that Outlook creates by default.

PST 1: Default Folder created by Outlook
PST 2: Use to store Project E-mails

If you have a very high volume of e-mails (particularly with large attachments) you may want to have 2 PST files for your Project E-mails, one for Active projects and one for Completed projects.

How to Move Emails from One PST to another (Using Drag and Drop)

One simple way of moving your emails from one PST to another is to Drag and Down the email to the appropriate folder. This method is simple and it works but:

It can be time-consuming to find the right folder if you have a lot of folders
It is easy to accidentally drop the email into the wrong folder

Using QuickFile to move your emails

Our Outlook addin QuickFile has the ability to remember where you commonly file emails related to a project/case/person and it will provide you with a list of recently used folders. You can simply:

Select the email that you wish to move
On the QuickFile toolbar/Ribbon, click the QuickFile button. This will display the QuickFile screen.
You can select the appropriate folder from the recommended list(based on your previous filing)
Click Move

The email will now be moved to the appropriate folder.

QuickFile is the Fastest, Easiest and Error-Free way to file emails in Outlook. Users tell us that they can file as much as 90% of their emails at the click of one button.

Click here to learn more about QuickFile for Outlook.

Categories : Outlook Email Filing & Management Tip, Outlook Email Tips, QuickFile for Outlook

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Use the Free Outlook Social Connector to avoid sending emails to the wrong people

Posted by: standss | Comments (3)

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Here’s how you can get Outlook to display pictures of the people you are sending emails to… a quick glance and you will know if you’re sending the email to the right person.

And the best part… Outlook will bring the person’s picture to you from Facebook or LinkedIn… you don’t have to do anything yourself.

Why is this useful?

The internet is full of horror/funny stories of people using Outlook accidentally sending emails to the wrong person… funny when it happens to someone else… possibly job-threatening if it happens to you.

The main reason this happens is Outlook’s Autocomplete feature… as you type an email address in the To, CC or BCC fields, Outlook automatically completes it for you.

Although this is normally a very useful feature, it also makes it super easy to accidentally send the email to someone else who has a similar name or email address to the person you really want to contact.

A Solution

Microsoft Outlook recently released a new (free) connector that pulls information from Facebook and LinkedIn directly into Outlook.

When you create an email, the person’s picture will automatically be displayed under your email.

A quick glance… and you know if your email is going to the right person.

Obviously this only works if the person you are writing to is on either Facebook or LinkedIn. Otherwise Outlook will not be able to display a picture.

You can try out the Outlook Facebook connector for yourself from this link. It works in Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010.

Categories : Outlook Email Tips, Outlook as a Business Tool

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Common (Costly) Emailing Mistakes in Outlook and How to Prevent Them

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Friday, December 10th, 2010

If you are running a business, particularly a professional business, these seemingly small errors can make you look unprofessional and waste precious billable time.

Please raise your hand if you ever:

Forgot to attach a document to an email message.
Clicked Reply when you meant Reply-All or vice-versa.
Forgot to write a subject.
Emailed someone using the wrong email address (for those of us with more than one email address).
Fired off an angry message that you later regretted.

SendGuard 4Outlook, protects you from all these mistakes by automatically warning you if it detects the possibility of any of the above mistakes (and more).

SendGuard even gives you a way of changing your mind about an email after you have clicked Send.

SendGuard works inside Outlook and takes no time to learn – you continue to write and send your emails the same way you always have. SendGuard will automatically warn you and let you take corrective action if it detects a mistake.

You can download a fully functional 30 Day Trial of SendGuard from:
http://www.standss.com/sendguard/default.asp

SendGuard 4Outlook works with Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007 and 2010(32-bit).

Categories : Office Tip, Outlook Email Tips, Sales and Marketing with Outlook, SendGuard for Outlook, Sending emails

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Outlooks HIDDEN Shortcuts to anything on your computer or the Web

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Friday, June 18th, 2010

While we’re on the topic of shortcuts, did you know that Outlook can keep and organize shortcuts to almost anything in Outlook, your computer, your network or the Internet. Here’s how…

Open the shortcuts pane by going to Outlook and then clicking CTRL-7 to display the Shortcuts Pane.

To add a new Shortcut Group, right-click over any of the existing group names and click New Shortcut Group.

To add a new shortcut to an Outlook folder, right-click over any of the existing group names and click New Shortcut.

To add a new shortcut to any file or folder on your computer or network, drag and drop it to the appropriate shortcut group inside Outlook.

To add a new shortcut to any website, drag and drop its address (URL) from your Internet Browser to the appropriate shortcut group inside Outlook.

Some further comments:

You can change the display name of a shortcut to something smaller or more meaningful after adding it by right-clicking over it and then clicking Rename Shortcut.
I personally do not like adding web pages to my shortcuts because it displays it within Outlook. This can make your Outlook display script related error messages that are annoying. (If you know how to get the shortcut to open in a Browser window instead, please leave a comment on the blog)

Categories : Outlook Email Tips

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Download Soccer World Cup Timetable into Outlook

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Friday, June 11th, 2010

It is less than 24 hours before the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup starts. Here’s how you can download the times for all the games into your Outlook Calendar.

Make sure that your computer is setup to the correct time zone. This step is important to ensure that the game time gets shown at the correct time depending on where in the world you are.Go to the Windows Control Panel and open Date and Time.(Your screen may be slightly different depending on the version of Outlook… it may have a separate tab for Time Zone).
Make sure that the correct Time Zone is displayed i.e. the time zone of where YOU are. (I am in Fiji so the screen shot above says Fiji). Click on Change time zone if you need to.
Click on the link below and save the .ics file to your desktop
Download the World Cup fixtures v3.0
(Fixtures are from the BBC website)
Import the downloaded file into your Outlook by using the following steps.If you are using Microsoft Outlook 2010, click File-Open-Import. For all other versions of Outlook, click File-Import & Export.Select Import an iCalendar (ics) or vCalendar file (vcs) from the list and click Next.
Use the screen that comes up to select the ics file that was downloaded in Step 1.

(You may get the following extra steps depending on the version of Outlook you are using)

Click either Open as New or Import. (I simply imported it to my main Outlook Calendar as it then synched with my Iphone too)

The times for all the games will now be in your Outlook.

Enjoy the games and may the best (my) team win.

Categories : Office Tip

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Outlook Email Notifications for Important Emails Only!

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Most Outlook users turn off Outlook’s email notification message. With the volume of emails we all receive these days, it is way too detrimental to productivity to have a message interrupt you every time you receive an email. But… what if you want to be alerted whenever you receive emails from particular people… maybe your boss… or an important client.

Did you know that you can use Rules to display an alert similar to the one shown below… so that it will only come up when you receive an email from one or more specific email addresses?

Here are step by step instructions…

Go to your Inbox.

Click Tools-Rules and Alerts to display the Rules dialog box. (In Outlook 2010, go to the home tab and click Rules-Manage Rules and Alerts)

Click the New Rule button to display the Rules Wizard screen.

Click “Display mail from someone in the New Item Alert Window”. (A on the picture above)

Click on “people or distribution list” (B on the picture above) to display the Rule Address screen.

Select someone from the list or type in the person’s email address in the From field.

Click OK to go back to the Rules Wizard screen.

Click “a specific message” (C on the picture above)

Type in what you want the alert message to say and click OK e.g. Email from Boss!

Click Finish

The next time you receive an email from that person, Outlook will display a message over everything else that you are working on.

This simple trick has helped our own team a lot. I hope it works well for you too.

If you find this tip useful or have your own tips for better email notifications, please leave a comment on the blog.

Categories : Outlook Email Tips

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How to Sort Outlook Emails at the Click of a Column

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Do you have folders with huge lists of emails in them? Here is a quick easy way to find particular emails by sorting your emails anyway you want.

This tip is particularly useful if (like my mum) you keep all your emails in your Inbox and Sent Items folders and you suddenly find that your emails are not being displayed in the order you are used to.

This tip is super easy… all you need to know how to do is click with the mouse.
Go to your Inbox (or any other email folder that you wish to sort). Do you see a list of column titles at the top (with labels like From, Subject, Received)
To sort by the Received date, click on the Received column title.

You will notice a little arrow next to the Received column title in the screen above. This indicates that the email list is sorted by the Received column.
The arrow pointing downward means that the list is sort in descending order i.e. the newest emails are at the top of the list and the oldest are at the bottom (for other fields it means that it will sort from Z to A).

The arrow pointing upward means that the list is sort in ascending order i.e. the oldest emails are at the top of the list and the newest are at the bottom (for other fields it means that it will sort from A to Z).

To make a list sort by a different column, simply click on the title of the column you wish to sort by.

To change the way a list is sorted (i.e. change from ascending to descending), click on the title of the column again.
In summary… to sort, click on the column title!

As an aside… if you are still keeping all your emails in the Inbox and Sent Items folders because you find the process of filing to dedicated project (etc) folders too painful, take a look at our Outlook addin QuickFile for Outlook. It makes it super easy to file both incoming and outgoing emails at the click of a button.

Categories : Outlook Email Tips

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