Here's the Outlook on Moving from a
Paper to Electronic Calendar
Okay, raise your hand if you've ever checked
out the Outlook calendar, entered some
birthdays, maybe even figured out how to
designate them as recurring dates, but then
never used the calendar again.
I did that, too, before I got serious. Now
you can learn how to get yourself on track
with your appointments and reminders, and
hopefully never forget your anniversary
again.
Let me add a disclaimer right here. This
article looks lengthy.
HOWEVER, I hate - and I mean really, really
hate - to get written directions to do
something that's new to me and come to find
out that some steps are left out.
Grrrrrrr............
So I try to make sure to give you literally
step-by-step instructions so that your
experience trying something new goes from
daunting to positive.
So let's get back to exactly what we'll use
this calendar for.
We'll enter professional obligations,
personal appointments and reminders, and
even family birthdays.
With all these things on one calendar,
you might wonder how you'll keep it
straight or how to effectively view just
one group of entries. But you can, once
you know how. We'll get to all that in a
moment.
Your success with this calendar lies in
the actual entering of the information.
Do it right the first time and it will
keep you on track.
Let's
Begin!
I won't assume you have any prior knowledge
of using the Outlook calendar, so let's
start at the beginning.
Click your Start button at the bottom left
of your computer's desktop > choose All
Programs > Microsoft Office > Outlook.
Somewhere, probably on the left
side of the screen, you'll see
different components of
Microsoft Outlook (such as
email, contacts, notes, etc.)
but choose Calendar. (If you
don't see a folder for it, click
on the word Calendar.)
Everyone's might open up a bit
differently depending on the
default setting or setting edits
that were made at a previous
time.
Choose the 31-day view I
mentioned earlier. At the top
right, you'll see the date range
that is visible to you (i.e.
March 2009 - April 2009).
But at any time that you want to
scroll quickly forward or
backward, simply put your cursor
over the scroll bar on the right
side of your screen, and then
press and hold down the left
clicker (notice the technical
terms I use... told you I'm no
computer guru).
With your other hand, just move
your cursor up or down. You'll
see the date move forward or
backward with your motions.
Viewing Your Calendar
When you open up your calendar,
you have several ways to view
it. Personally, I click on the
"31" icon because I want to see
the entire month at once.
However, your other viewing options include
viewing a single Day("1"), Work Week ("5"),
or Week ("7). The fewer days that show up on
your screen, the greater detail you're able
to see.
When I view my month-at-a time, I can see
several appointments on a day, but if I've
entered more than a few items for that day,
it will give me a small down arrow to
indicate that there is more to be seen. If I
click on that tiny down-arrow, it will
expand to show me them all.
Conversely, when you choose the one-day
view, you might see the hours of the day
with your appointments either nestled
together in a neat batch above the actual
time lines. Or if you've assigned those
appointments to a particular time of day,
they'll line up nicely on the proper hourly
line. It's all in how you enter the
information.
Happy
Birthday, You!
For this month, we'll start with birthdays
and anniversaries. They stay the same every
year, and afford us the opportunity to learn
how to set up a recurring "appointment",
although in this particular case they're
occasions. No matter.
With your calendar open to the 31-day view,
scroll to the month of your own birthday.
Double-click on the actual day and it opens
up a box in which you'll enter all pertinent
details.
In the subject line type My Birthday. Put a
check mark in the All Day Event box if not
already defaulted that way. Now near the
top, click on Recurrence.
In the Recurrence Pattern section of the
box, click on the Yearly radio button, and
then choose the other radio button that's
appropriate (i.e. Every December 26).
In the Range of Recurrence box, click the No
End Date radio button. Click OK. Click Save
and Close at the top.
Now at the very top, choose Edit, then
Label, then Edit Labels. Assign "Birthdays &
Anniversaries" to one of the colors, and
then OK.
Now go back and double-click on that
birthday you just entered to open it up so
you can edit it.
Next, over on the right, click on Label and
choose the color that you assigned for
Birthdays, then Save & Close.
Assign Your
Categories
Finally, see at the bottom you have an
option for Categories? Click once on
Categories, then Master Category List
(you'll probably see default settings
which you can opt to keep or change, but
for now follow these directions...).
Make one category named Personal, one
Family, and one Business.
After each entry, press OK, then Master
Categories again, name the next category and
OK, and so on until you've finished entering
those three. Then click OK again.
You should now be returned to the actual
appointment, so choose which category is
appropriate by checking it and no matter
what, don't forget to choose Save and Close.
Voila!
If you ever want to delete an appointment or
occasion, just click on the X (delete) icon
at the top and it's gone.
I would use the Family category for times
when your family members might want a copy
of that month's birthdays and anniversaries
or travel plans, but not necessary care
about your upcoming root canal.
But either way, you'll find your own groove
and do what works best for you.
The neat thing here is for birthdays, you
would click on both Personal and Family, so
it will show up on both. When you print,
you'll have the option of choosing which
category to print. We'll cover that in
April.
Try It On Your
Own
For this month, we'll stop right here. Try
it. Practice. Enter your family's birthdays
and anniversaries. Assign each label color
to a type of appointment. Create your Master
Categories list.
By the time you're feeling comfortable with
it, it'll be April and we'll take it to the
viewing and printing stage. That's what I'll
have for you next month, and then that will
complete the basic instruction for
using your Outlook calendar.
Which might just be all you'll ever need.
Two asides... Don't fool yourself
thinking it won't be powerful and extremely
useful. It is.
Secondly, for the time being, don't get rid
of the paper planner because that's your
assurance that no appointment will be lost -
and keeping it will give you the confidence
to try things with your Outlook calendar.
Best wishes - and here's to keeping those
appointments and getting those birthday
cards out on time!
(As I've mentioned before, I
use MS Office version 2003, and the
instructions I give might need to be amended
depending on your own version.)
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