November 14, 2014
Dear Everyone:
I use Microsoft Outlook on my computer, but not for email.
In fact, I have avoided even letting Outlook find out that I have
email. If it did, Outlook
would be barraging me with notifications that “You Have Mail!” and other
helpful things that are not all that helpful.
Of course, technically, my email is in a form of Outlook, just not on my
computer. Years ago, when I
had a problem with my “regular” email, I ventured into using a free
account on a system called “Hotmail”.
Not that “free” email is truly free.
In fact, it is offered by various organizations as a way of
getting you into their clutches.
For example, Gmail is a “free” email in that the User doesn’t have to
pay for the account. But it
does give Google access to the User, hence lots of advertising.
And a while back there were some horror stories about Google
“reading” people’s email to enhance their advertising (Google’s
advertising, not the User’s.)
Hotmail is just Microsoft’s version of Gmail.
In fact, recently, Hotmail turned
into Outlook online. Before
that, we Users were just “beta-testing” newer versions of Outlook for
Microsoft, free of charge.
As the immortal
Robert A. Heinlein wrote, “TANSTAAFL!!!”
(“There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch”)
But I digress. The reason I
got Outlook, without the intention of using it for email, is for the
scheduling and other features offered by the software.
I use the Calendar, of course, to keep track of appointments.
Now that I’m “not working”, I have fewer meetings to worry about,
but there are still times when I need to know that I’m supposed to be
somewhere at a certain time.
Doctor’s appointments, for example.
And ARMA Meetings.
And then there’s the Task List. I
love the Task List. I even
figured out how to teach Outlook to automatically open up in the Task
List, instead of the default Mail List.
Every time there is something I need to remember to do, I put it in the
Task List. Like most people,
I used to leave things lying about, thinking, “I’ll see that and
remember that I need to do (Fill-In-Blank) with it.”
Then, of course, it would get buried under all the other
important things and you-know-where-this-is-going.
Then I tried writing things on
Post-It Notes and sticking them on the
wall, or something. I would
even color-code the Notes according to Priority.
That worked until a good breeze came along and blew all the Notes
away. Or I ran out of wall.
Then came Outlook, with its Task List.
I could type up a Task, then put the Fill-In-Blank in its proper
place, usually in a file somewhere, and Tasks would remind me when to do
the whatever. I could even
assign Categories, like “ARMA”, or “Homeowner Association”.
Each Category has its own color.
Outlook even lets you arrange Tasks by Category.
And it lets you assign a date and time to each Task.
For instance, I need to remember to take my medications each morning.
So I set up a Task:
Morning Meds; Category:
Medical (Orange); Date:
Today; Time: 9:00 AM.
Each morning, Outlook pops up with a Reminder at 9:00 AM.
If I have already taken the Morning Meds, which is often the
case, I just go into Outlook, double-click the Task and change the date
to Tomorrow.
In fact, I sometimes get into a race to try and beat Outlook to the
punch. Take the Meds before
9:00 and reset the date before the Reminder comes on.
If I get busy with something, Outlook is there to remind me.
Lately, what with the
San Ramon City
Retention training (Category:
Teal), the ARMA International Conference (Category:
Maroon), regular ARMA business (Category:
Grey), the Homeowner Association (Category:
Green), and now the Holidays coming up, my Task List has become a
tad bit tyrannical. Do This
Now!!! Remember to Do This
by 2:00!!! This One Is
OVERDUE!!! Get these 10
things done before 6:00 PM, OR ELSE!
Or else what? Can this
morning’s meds wait until tomorrow?
Uh, no, not really.
How about putting Holiday Shopping off until January?
Kind of missing the point there.
I have to keep reminding myself (pun intended) that these
Reminders are there to Help Me, not to Drive Me Crazy.
Going Crazy can definitely wait until after The Holidays.
When the To Do List for one day becomes so long I can’t see all the
items in a single screen it’s time to do something.
Make the screen bigger, or re-prioritize some things.
Did I mention “Jeannie” has her own Category?
She’s Buttercup Yellow.
Love, as always,
Pete
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