Friday Quick Tip – Productivity Tool: Outlook Notifications
Today’s tool isn’t really a tool, but more of a helpful hint about an application that you probably already use: Microsoft Outlook. The default setting in Outlook 2003 and 2007 is to display a small 3 line preview of incoming emails in the system tray down by the clock. This little window fades in and out innocently enough, but it’s a major distraction. There you are, hard at work on your next great marketing campaign, when up pops a little blue window notifying you that the latest ClickZ newsletter has just arrived. And wouldn’t that be a lot more fun to look at than your next great marketing campaign copy?
Don’t be lured in! I turned off these notifications two months ago and I have really noticed a difference in my workday productivity. I am able to take more tasks all the way to completion each day, and because I’m a task-oriented person, that makes me quite happy.
Here’s what to do: (Note — these instructions are for Outlook 2007, but Outlook 2003 is quite similar)
- Click the Tools menu, then Options
- Click the E-mail Options… button near the top of the Preferences tab
- Click the Advanced E-mail Options… button (they don’t make this easy!)
- In the middle of the window, uncheck the box that reads Display a New Mail Desktop Alert.
- Enjoy your day with less interruptions!
Do you have a productivity tool that you love? Share it with me: heather dot foeh at eloqua dot com
