Help me better utilize Office for work email, scheduling, etc

File Size Do you get a lot of big attachments? You might consider saving those to your computer/a network drive and then stripping them out of the email messages. If you use the reading pane, you can toggle between the message view and a view of the attachment(s) by clicking on either the envelope or the attachment. When you are clicked on the attachment, you get an Attachment tab on your ribbon which includes the option to remove the attachment. If you're getting or sending lots of file to people who share a network drive or other file storage location with you, you can also send them a link. I usually type this out in my email like this: \\companyserver\foldername\subfoldername\documentname.docx With angle brackets at the front and back. (Can't do that in the comment here.) There's probably an easier way to do this. In any case, that will save you some storage space. There's also a Mailbox Cleanup button in the File tab that lets you see what is hogging all the space. Calendar I feel like the calendar functionality is really focused on setting up meetings. It has a nice view (Scheduling Assistant) for seeing when people are available. If you are in a work group, you can all share your calendars with each other so you can look directly on them. I usually pop the calendar page out as a separate window (right-click on the calendar icon at the bottom of the screen that you would use to switch to Calendar view). All the people who have shared their calendars with me are listed and I can use checkboxes to select which calendars are visible. You can also create additional calendars under your own name if you need to track things (equipment, rooms, etc.) that are not you. Inbox Sometimes I use a different sort for my inbox so that I don't get too focused on just the most recent stuff. I'll either flip the sort so the oldest stuff it at the top, or sort by sender. In addition to flags, you can set up categories. These can be used for projects, and can be used across email messages, tasks and calendar appointments. Microsoft does a nice job of providing learning resources for their products. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/results.aspx?filter=3&qu=training&av=zol140 http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/getting-started-with-office-2010-FX101822272.aspx>

I create new folders under my mailbox, and I move emails important emails out of the inbox and into the subfolders. This allows me to organize by project. I mark emails that require action as unread. That way I get a number next to each project folder that tells me how many action items I have for each project. Each project folder gets a subfolder called "Waiting for response." When I send an email that requires a response, I move it from my sent items folder, and mark it as unread until I get a response. That way I know if I need to remind anyone that I'm waiting for a response. For action items that don't correspond to an email, I use tasks. I create categories that correspond to my projects, and then I sort the task view by category. I find that all of Outlook's other functionality for organizing and scheduling is too fiddly for my needs.