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Archive for Productivity
Do you use the Outlook Today Page much? By default it shows the number of unread emails in your Inbox and Drafts folders. Here’s a quick tip to add other folders to the Today page.
- Go to your Outlook Today Page
- Click Customize Outlook Today (top right corner).
- Click the Choose Folders button. Tick all the relevant folders and then click OK.
- Click Save Changes to return to your Outlook Today page. The number of unread emails in your chosen folders will now be displayed.
Some uses of this tip:
Know where Rules have moved emails
This is particularly useful if you use Rules to move emails out of your Inbox. The problem with doing that is remembering to look at the folders later to see if they have any new emails that need your attention. Use this technique to have a dashboard that tells you how many unread emails are in various folders that are important to you.
View how many newsletter emails you still need to read
QuickFile PRO for Outlook - get more productive by setting up QuickFile to automatically shift non-urgent emails such as newsletters etc. to a dedicated folder for later reading. You may want to add the folder Inbox\Newsletters (QuickFile) to your Today page too as shown in the image above..
Do you have other clever uses of the Outlook Today page. Please let us know by leaving a comment on this page.
Thursday,
November
10th,
2011
There are four things that we can do with emails sent from Outlook: 1) leave them in the Sent Items folder 2) Delete them 3) File them to another folder or 4) Leave a copy in the Sent Items folder and file a copy in another folder.
Here is how QuickFile for Outlook users can do all of these things almost automatically.
QuickFile for Outlook displays the Send&File screen every time you send out an email (i.e. the screen is displayed when you click Send).
To leave the email in the Sent Items folder:
Click Send Only on QuickFile’s Send&File screen.
If you don’t want this prompt to be displayed (i.e. you want all sent emails to simply stay in the Sent Items folder), you can change the settings .
- On the QuickFile Toolbar/Ribbon > Click More > Settings…
- Under the General tab, you will find the option “Action to take when Send clicked”
- From the Drop-down menu, select Do Normal Send
- Click OK
To delete the email after it is sent (i.e. you do not want a copy in the Sent Items folder or in any other folder)
Click Send & Delete when QuickFile for Outlook displays the Send&File screen.
To file the sent email into another folder and leave a copy in the Sent Items folder:
- On the Send & File screen, select the folder to which you want to file a copy of the email
- Click on the Show Options >> link on the bottom right corner of the screen
- Select the option “File a COPY of email”
- Click Send & File button
If you normally want to file emails this way, you can change the relevant setting on the QuickFile settings screen.
- On the QuickFile Toolbar/Ribbon > Click More > Settings…
- Under the General tab, go to the section “Action to take upon Button Click”
- From the Drop-down list for Send & File:, select File a copy of email to folder
- Click OK
To file the sent email out of the Sent Items folder and into another folder:
- On the Send & File screen, select the folder to which you want to file the email
- Click on the Show Options >> link on the bottom right corner of the screen
- Select the option “File/Move original email”
- Click Send & File button
If you normally want to file emails this way, you can change the relevant setting on the QuickFile settings screen.
- On the QuickFile Toolbar/Ribbon > Click More > Settings…
- Under the General tab, go to the section “Action to take upon Button Click”
- From the Drop-down list for Send & File:, select File/Move original email to folder
- Click OK
We hope this blog post helps you get more out of QuickFile for Outlook. . If you’re not a user yet, you can view a demo video of Quick File for Outlook or download a free Outlook addon trial from our website today.
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.
Tuesday,
September
13th,
2011
For a limited time only, exclusively for our blog readers, we are offering 2 of our best selling Productivity Tools, QuickFile Pro for Outlook and EmailNotes for Outlook as a bundle for only $79.95.
Normally they would cost US $99.90 (QuickFile Pro = $69.95, EmailNotes = $29.95) if bought separately; however as a special offer to all our Blog readers, we are giving away QuickFile Pro and EmailNotes together as a Productivity Tools Pack for only $79.95.
This offer is only valid till the 19th of September so if you are interested, ACT NOW and SAVE UP TO 20% on this special offer.
This Special Offer End on the 19th of September
About QuickFile and EmailNotes
QuickFile is an Outlook addon that allows you to quickly and easily organize your mail into folders with a single click. With QuickFile you can:
- Organize mail quicker
- Send & File in one quick step
- File 90% of emails at the click of one button
- Find emails again fast and easy
- Quick and easy to install and use
Click here to see what existing users of QuickFile are saying
EmailNotes is an Outlook addin that allows you to quickly and easily add notes like ‘post-it notes’ to emails: With EmailNotes you can:
- Immediately jot down ideas while reading emails
- Add missing information to emails (usually gathered by follow-up phone calls)
- Improve follow-up on emails (and INCREASE SALES CLOSING RATES)
- Remember why certain emails were put in certain folders
Click here to see what existing users of EmailNotes are saying
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We believe in our outlook add ins so much that we offer a unconditional 30 days 100% Money Back Guarantee. No Questions Asked! This removes all risks from your decision so ACT NOW! |
This Special Offer End on the 19th of September
Feel free to share the link to this special offer with anyone you feel might be interested in becoming more productive.
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.
Wednesday,
July
20th,
2011
2011 has been a year of discovery for me… a year where I am trying to eliminate as many bad habits as I can. One habit that I know I have (but have been avoiding discovering) is how often I click Send & Receive in Outlook… most times without even knowing that I am doing it.
In this post, I look at why I do it, what’s wrong with it and how I am curing myself.
WHY… FROM WHEN?
At first I didn’t try and stop myself from clicking Send & Receive. Instead I tried to see when I was clicking it. This is what I discovered.
- I was clicking Send & Receive whenever I was in-between major pieces of work during the day. It was a mechanism to avoid starting the new piece of work… particularly if it was something that I did not want to do. I was hoping to discover a distraction in my Inbox… even if the distraction would be a total unproductive waste of time.
- I was clicking Send & receive whenever I had a decision to make. The decision could be deciding what I was going to work on next… or it could be a design decision with no strictly right answer (I hate being wrong). In short, I was again hoping that something would catch my attention so that I could avoid doing what I had to do.
In summary… Send & Receive was a procrastination mechanism. I was hoping that it would give me a distraction (in the form of an email) that would justify me not doing what my business needed me to do.
MY SOLUTION
I now make a conscious effort to CLOSE Outlook several times a day.
Once Outlook is closed, I decide what I want to do and then start work. I do not open Outlook while working on this unless I need to refer to an email.
I still find myself moving the mouse over to try and click Send & Receive… but then I realize Outlook is closed… and then I realize WHY it’s closed… which makes me get back to some real work.
The thing I’ve discovered is that most of the things that I had been hoping to avoid only take a few seconds… I’ve been getting much more work done… and most of it is very enjoyable.
Once I get a decent chunk of work done, I turn Outlook on again for my email-fix.
I’d love to hear comments from users on their own ways of dealing with email-distraction.
Wednesday,
July
13th,
2011
Do you need to file an email in more than one folder in Outlook? Here’s how to do it using drag and drop… and an easier way if you’re using QuickFile for Outlook.
Normally we have a dedicated folder for each project/case/person in Outlook to which we file all related emails but there are times when the same email may need to be filed in two folders.
Filing to multiple folders using Outlook (drag and drop)
- Right-Click on the email, drag it to the required folder, release it and select the Copy option.
This 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 file the same email in multiple folders
The latest version of our Outlook addin QuickFile has a new feature we call “Mutli-Select mode” which allows you to select mutliple folders and file a copy of the email to the selected folders at the click of a button.
We only recommend that you use the Multi-Select mode if the majority of your emails need to be filed to multiple folders.
To turn on the Mutli-Select mode:
* Open Outlook
* On the QuickFile toolbar/Ribbon, click More > Settings…
* Click the View tab, under Display Options, you will find “Multi-Select mode in QuickFile”
* From the Drop-down menu, select “Show link to Multiple-Select (with Multiple-Select on)”
* Click OK
* Now select a email that you wish to file to multiple folders and click the QuickFile button. QuickFile will display a screen as shown below with checkboxes beside each folder.
* Place a tick beside each folder you wish to file the email to
* Click Move
A copy of the email will now be moved to all the folders you selected.
If you’re not a user of QuickFile yet, Click Here to download a Fully Functional 30 day trial version of QuickFile for Outlook.
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 incoming emails at the click of one button.
Click here to learn more about QuickFile for Outlook
A quick post to let you know that the special report is ready for you to read now.
3 Reasons why Outlook’s Appointments and Tasks are
too Simplistic, Error-Prone, Time Consuming & Risky for Your Business
… and How to Fix It in 5 Minutes
Download and read the report now:
Click here to read the report online. You will need the latest version of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader – if you need it, get it here.
To save the report to your hard-disk and read the PDF file offline, right click this link and then click “save target as”
A special Thank You to the many readers who came back with such fantastic ideas and comments… your information was so valuable that we HAD to go back and rework major parts of both the report and the solution.
Once you have read the report, please send me your comments at news@standss.com
I look forward to helping you to add more time to your day.
Regards,
Sanjay
PS: You need to read the information TODAY as it links to a video showing you a 5 minute solution to making Outlook’s Appointments and Tasks work the FAST, EASY, ERROR-FREE way your business needs.
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 (This is officially referred to as the Desktop Alert in Outlook).
The trouble with that alert box is that it displays just enough of the message content to divert your mind completely to it, thus truly diverting your focus away from more important work. Various research show that its takes up to five minutes for a worker to completely refocus on a task after being interrupted. 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 might want to turn off this alerts (like me) to help you stay focussed on what’s important.
To turn off this Email Alerts in Outlook 2010:
- Go to the File tab > Options > select Mail on upper left side of the Outlook Options window
- On the right side, scroll down to the Message Arrival section
- Clear the checkbox labeled Display a Desktop Alert. (You might want to consider clearing all 4 checkboxes in that section)
For Outlook 2003 and 2007:
- In the Outlook menu > choose Tools > Options.
- Under the Preferences tab > click E-mail Options…> click the Advanced E-mail Options… button.
- Clear the checkbox labeled Display a New Mail Desktop Alert. (You might want to consider clearing all 4 checkboxes in that section)
- Click OK all the way out to the main Outlook window.
Did you find this post useful, let us know by leaving a comment on the Blog
Tuesday,
February
1st,
2011
If you’re using Outlook and Windows 7, here is a tip that will take you all 2 seconds to implement but will save you hours of time in the future.
One of the new features that Windows 7 has is called Jump Lists. Jump Lists are basically a list of options that get displayed for programs on the Task Bar.
- Start Outlook.
- Right Click over the Outlook icon on the Task Bar. The following options will be displayed in the Jump List (which is what Microsoft has called the pop-up that gets displayed when you right click)
Why do I like this?
I can use this Jump List to quickly create a new contact, appointment, task or email… without having to look for the appropriate button on the Outlook ribbon.
How to make it even better.
You can pin Outlook to the Task Bar so that the icon (and associated jump list) is there even when Outlook is closed. To pin Outlook to the task Bar:
- Start Outlook.
- Right Click over the Outlook icon on the Task Bar and click pin this program to the taskbar.
I hope you find this tip useful. If you have your own tips to share about the new features on Windows 7, please leave a comment on the blog.
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