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How you can free up time by being organized in Microsoft Outlook. This requires discipline but mostly organization of the program and what you do with the tools.

  1. To do this, Pull down the File menu, select Tools, then select Options. The options window will open. On the Preferences Tab click on the "E-mail Options" button. In the options window that opens, click on the "Advanced E-mail Options" button. In the options window that opens, look in the "When new items arrive in my inbox" section. De-select all the options.
  2. It will provide you with a view of scheduled work for the day. To set calendar as your default view, pull down the File menu, select Tools, and then select Options. In the Options window, select the "Other" tab, then click the "Advanced Options" button. In the "Advanced options" window, looking in the "General settings" section and click on browse. The select folder will open. In the "Select Folder" window, select "Calendar" and click OK three times.
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  3. To view only tasks due today, pull down the File menu and select View, then select "Task pad view", then select "Today's tasks".
  4. Set 2 to 3 times a day to work with your emails, and don't look at them at any other time. Emails are a distraction and keep you from getting real work done.
  5. There should never be anything left at the end of the email session. To clear out your inbox, you must decide what to do with each email. You have four choices: Delete, defer, delegate, or do.
  6. A task will automatically be created; select a start date and time, and a due date and time, then save it.
  7. If you do it, delete it from your inbox or move it to a personal folder where you keep old dealt-with emails.
  8. A meeting notice will open. Enter the time and date you want to block off, then save it. A copy of the email will be included with the meeting notice. Delete the email from the inbox or move to a personal folder.
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  • Question
    How do I get my Outlook inbox folders to be listed in alphabetical order? They were before; I changed something, and now they are not.
    Community Answer
    In Outlook, select the Folder tab. In the Clean Up section, select Show All Folders A to Z.
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      • The main thing is to not be a slave to your emails. By turning off the new email alert and using the calendar as the default view, you can keep your focus on your work.
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