Become An Outlook Power User – 5 (OK, 9) Easy Tips To Save You Time And Increase Focus (TPS317)

09/14/20 • 33 min

1 Listener

If you’ve worked in a decently-sized organization, there’s a good chance that you are, have, or will at some point use Microsoft Outlook. It’s everywhere.

The problem is, most of us just start using it, and don’t spend any time making it work FOR us. In this episode, we’re going to share 5 – ok, more like 8 or 9, Outlook tips that have made us more productive and let us get back to doing our work instead of messing around in our Inbox.

Thanks to Indeed for supporting The Productivity Show. Indeed is offering our listeners a $75 credit at Indeed.com/tps.

Thanks to ExpressVPN for supporting The Productivity Show. ExpressVPN is offering our listeners an extra 3 months free on a one year package. Go to ExpressVPN.com/tps to learn more.

Thanks to Blinkist for supporting The Productivity Show. Blinkist is offering our listeners a free 7-day trial and 25% off your new subscription. Go to Blinkist.com/tps to learn more.

Cheat Sheet:

The top 3 productivity resources for this week [3:12]
The introduction of TPS+! [7:03]
Brooks’s and Marmel’s experience with Outlook, and why Brooks ditched all of his Google Suite for Microsoft 365 [11:24]
Get the zen focus of minimal notifications without sacrificing important communications [15:35]
How to reduce the clutter in your email inbox through auto filing meeting responses [24:05]
Stop wasting time digging around your messages and use search folders [27:00]
Make Outlook Mobile work for you and customize the swipe actions [29:51]
Why Brooks and Marmel believe that Outlook has the most comprehensive and useful rules system of any email client [33:06]
More quick tips to streamline and maximize your Outlook productivity [38:42]
Action steps you can take to integrate today’s topic into your life [43:49]

Links:

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If you’ve worked in a decently-sized organization, there’s a good chance that you are, have, or will at some point use Microsoft Outlook. It’s everywhere.

Thanks to Indeed for supporting The Productivity Show. Indeed is offering our listeners a $75 credit at Indeed.com/tps.

Thanks to ExpressVPN for supporting The Productivity Show. ExpressVPN is offering our listeners an extra 3 months free on a one year package. Go to ExpressVPN.com/tps to learn more.

Thanks to Blinkist for supporting The Productivity Show. Blinkist is offering our listeners a free 7-day trial and 25% off your new subscription. Go to Blinkist.com/tps to learn more.

Cheat Sheet:

The top 3 productivity resources for this week [3:12]
The introduction of TPS+! [7:03]
Brooks’s and Marmel’s experience with Outlook, and why Brooks ditched all of his Google Suite for Microsoft 365 [11:24]
Get the zen focus of minimal notifications without sacrificing important communications [15:35]
How to reduce the clutter in your email inbox through auto filing meeting responses [24:05]
Stop wasting time digging around your messages and use search folders [27:00]
Make Outlook Mobile work for you and customize the swipe actions [29:51]
Why Brooks and Marmel believe that Outlook has the most comprehensive and useful rules system of any email client [33:06]
More quick tips to streamline and maximize your Outlook productivity [38:42]
Action steps you can take to integrate today’s topic into your life [43:49]

Links:

Previous Episode

A World Traveler and Entrepreneur Reveals His Personal Productivity System w/ Chris Reynolds (TPS316)

Today I’m joined by Chris Reynolds, the founder of the Business Method podcast and Get Shit Done Live! Chris’ business and events help entrepreneurs optimize their productivity to reach peak performance consistently, and scale their businesses rapidly using research-driven techniques. Chris has been a location-independent entrepreneur for 11-years, living in multiple countries & traveling the world during that time.

In this episode we talk about how to optimize your brain for focus, what high performers have in common, Chris’ workflows, and his personal productivity system for how he gets things done.

Thanks to Fiverr for supporting The Productivity Show. Fiverr is offering our listeners 10% off their first order by going to Fiverr.com and using the code TPS.

Thanks to Mint Mobile for supporting The Productivity Show. Mint Mobile is offering our listeners $15 per month and free shipping on their phone at MintMobile.com/tps.

Thanks to Fundrise for supporting The Productivity Show. Fundrise is offering our listeners 90 days of advisory free service. Go to Fundrise.com/tps to learn more.

Cheat Sheet:

The top 3 productivity resources for this week [2:51]
How Chris found his dream job and what he realized he needed most in his life [4:32]
What about working in an entrepreneur house was most influential on Chris and his future in productivity [9:05]
How Chris engages with and helps people looking to boost their productivity [13:00]
The importance of setting boundaries on your time, and how to stay productive while traveling [16:24]
How Chris manages his rituals while traveling and still enjoying his travels [27:40]
What a normal day looks like for Chris [32:48]
What Chris believes to be the most important part of every productivity system [38:36]
Why Chris doesn’t do any formal tracking of his mood or productivity or anything [45:09]

Connect with Chris Reynolds

Next Episode

Decision Fatigue: Here’s How To Outsmart This Productivity Killer (TPS318)

How often do you find yourself saying “I can’t deal with this right now... I’ll figure it out later” or you just avoid decisions altogether?

For busy professionals, it’s extremely common, and the culprit is usually decision fatigue — the more decisions you make in a short period of time, the poorer quality your decisions become and the less willing you are to make them. We’ve all been there.

In this episode, we’re going to cover 3 strategies you can use to cut off decision fatigue and tools you can use to keep your focus on the important decisions that really do need your attention.

Thanks to Raycon for supporting The Productivity Show. Raycon is offering our listeners 15% off their wireless earbuds at BuyRaycon.com/tps.

Thanks to Sleep Cycle for supporting The Productivity Show. Sleep Cycle is offering our listeners a free 7-day trial of their intelligent alarm clock and sleep tracker. Learn more at SleepCycle.com/tps.

Thanks to Masterclass for supporting The Productivity Show. Masterclass is offering our listeners 15% off your annual all-access pass at Masterclass.com/tps.

Cheat Sheet:

The top 3 productivity resources for this week [2:55]
Why this episode will help everyone, from people new to productivity to seasoned veterans [5:04]
What decision fatigue is and why it can be so detrimental to our productivity [10:45]
Why decisions cause us to use up so much energy and how Steve Jobs famously handled it [14:41]
The number one way to combat decision fatigue [26:21]
How to look ahead to the next day and perceive any potential big decisions [29:40]
Why you need to work on the most important thing first every day [34:13]
What to do if you feel like you have to be always on [38:44]
The power of your community and how you can leverage it into less decision fatigue [41:55]
How having a solid definition of done is key in good delegation [47:49]
How to replace your regular decisions with routines [50:00]
Action steps you can take to integrate today’s topic into your life [52:34]