4 Ways to Streamline Your Tasks

Outlook Tasks program lets you work smarter, not harder
Published: January 31, 2006
ByS. E. Slack, author and technology expert

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Every job requires a variety of tasks during a given day. Maybe yours includes meeting new clients or writing letters or downloading information into various software applications. Regardless, staying on top of all the tasks you need to perform is crucial. By organizing them effectively, you can plan ahead for tomorrow and improve your productivity at the same time.
The Tasks program is a feature of Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 that lets you create lists of task-related items. But dig a little deeper and you will find it also does more for you than act as a simple list program. Using these four Microsoft Office Tasks feature tips will help you stay one step ahead of the competition.
On This Page
1. Customize your view
2. Detail your time, billing, or mileage
3. Set up tasks from Excel
4. Send status reports for tasks
1. Customize your view
The Tasks View is important because you can see at a glance what your tasks are and their status. Choosing the appropriate view here saves time because you can determine which item is most critical on your list without scrolling through all other tasks still marked as incomplete. For example, do you prefer to manage your time by the next task needing completion or by the client name? A variety of options in the Tasks View lets you sort tasks according to your requirements.
To view your tasks in Outlook, on the Go menu, click Tasks to see the Tasks View. You will see a window that displays tasks and sections similar to those shown here.

There are three key sections of the screen to note:
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Tasks Navigation Pane — The Tasks Current View is represented on the left side of the screen. This illustration shows the Simple List view is currently displayed.
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Tasks Subject — This column outlines the current tasks you have established. In the simple view, you see a subject and a due date.
•
Tasks Completion check mark — This column indicates the task has been completed, both with a check mark in the box and a line through the task.
First, decide which Current View works best for you. For example, if you prefer to see items in a visual format, try the Task Timeline. If not, you might prefer the By Category view, which lets you see tasks by the categories you have established in a text-only view. This view is particularly helpful if you have specific groups or individuals to complete tasks for. Try out different options until you find one that suits you best.
Below the Current View pane, you will see Customize Current View. Selecting this prompt will open a window that allows you to sort your tasks by subject, status, due date, percent complete, or category. There are literally dozens of ways you can customize your task lists to suit your needs. You can even change the font and column sizes.

Try out different options here. You can always change things back if you don‘t like the way your tasks appear with a new choice. The trick is to decide what will help you most easily streamline your tasks so that you aren‘t digging and searching for information. Your views may not look anything like a co-worker‘s and that‘s okay. This is your chance to personalize Outlook to meet your goals.
Another consideration when setting up your view is the Reading Pane. By turning on this setting (go to View, point to Reading Pane, and then choose the desired style) you will immediately see any notes associated with the task selected. This view can be a great time-saver because it quickly offers you all the information you need to complete a task. When you want to turn off the reading pane, go to View, point to Reading Pane, and click Off.
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2. Detail your time, billing, or mileage
It‘s not easy to remember the date you drove to an appointment at a client‘s home or how much time you spent completing a task in the office; most people try to remember to bill the time or mileage later. Often, that means deciphering multiple sticky notes or scraps of paper.
The Tasks Details screen, however, eliminates that mess by giving you one place to store that information for easy retrieval when invoicing a client. To view the Tasks Details screen, either create a new task (go to File, point to New, and then click Task) or open an existing task from the Task View by double-clicking the desired task. Once the desired task is open, click the Details tab. At the end of each billing period, you can then easily sort through the information by clients and add up the details quickly.

In this screen, you can see that below the Date Completed box, there are several boxes in which you can enter information. These boxes allow you to type any information you want.
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Total Work — Enter the total number of hours you have spent on a given client. When you invoice the client, it will be easy to do a search by client and tasks and tally the number of hours.
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Actual Work — Record the actual number of hours spent on the task.
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Companies — Enter the company involved. Sometimes a task will not specifically name the client, so this information is key to helping you track which tasks were performed for each client.
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Mileage — Enter the relevant date, mileage, and purpose of the trip.
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Billing Information — Enter the billing information related to the specific task. Perhaps you charged this task at the full rate but if not, this is a good place to remind yourself of the rate charge. You can add a note to yourself about why the full rate was not charged, for example.
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3. Set up tasks from Excel
If you use Microsoft Excel, you will likely see a few tasks arising out of the spreadsheets you create. For example, let‘s say that you created a workbook that outlines all possible aspects of a proposed project. One of the spreadsheets may detail milestones for the project—some or all of which may be yours. Rather than take the time to key all the necessary information into Outlook that might be needed to complete the task, you can export the workbook instead and easily create a new task directly from Excel.
You will need to be in the Excel workbook instead of in Outlook to set up this task, but the application integration in Microsoft Office makes this an easy task to set up.
To export the workbook and create the new task from Excel
1.
In Excel, open the workbook for which you want to add the task.
2.
On the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Reviewing.
3.
On the Reviewing toolbar, click the Create Microsoft Outlook Task button, which is a small clipboard icon with a red check mark.
4.
On the Task tab, enter the subject, dates, status, priority, category, contacts and reminder for the task as desired.
5.
Click Save and Close.
After you complete these steps, you can open the task in Outlook and the workbook is already attached to provide any other information you might need to complete the task.

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4. Send status reports for tasks
If you ever have a client or task that is of utmost importance to your boss, this tip will become a favorite. In Outlook, you can send a status report periodically to your boss. It‘s a great way to let her know you are handling things efficiently or to remind him how well-organized you are.
The report is automatically generated from Outlook into an e-mail message that you send.
To send a status report directly from Outlook
1.
In Outlook, open the task for which you want to send a status report.
2.
On the Actions menu, click Send Status Report. Outlook launches an e-mail window with your task status automatically added to the bottom.
3.
Enter recipient names in the To, Cc, and Bcc boxes. If the task was assigned to you, the names of people on the update list are automatically added.
4.
Add any other information you want in the e-mail message.
5.
Click Send.

S.E. Slack
S. E. Slack is a writer and author with more than 17 years of experience in business writing. She specializes in technology, with an emphasis on "de-gunking" technology so the masses can both understand and use it. Slack has written numerous articles for small- and medium-sized businesses, appearing internationally in business magazines and online business sites. She has also been an executive and business transformation communications consultant to IBM, Lenovo International, and State Farm Insurance Cos. Her books include The Financial Advisor‘s Guide to the Microsoft Office System, The Accountant‘s and Auditor‘s Guide to the Microsoft Office System, The Financial Analyst‘s Guide to the Microsoft Office System, and A Public Relations Survival Kit.