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Take Back Your Life!
Book

Take Back Your Life!

Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to Get Organized and Stay Organized

Microsoft Press, 2007 more...


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

To be productive, you need a good organizational system. Here, productivity experts Sally McGhee and John Wittry detail their time- and workflow-management system, which is based on Microsoft Outlook 2007. They offer precise, step-by-step instructions on mastering this software to organize your work and personal life. Their book presents numerous detailed organizational steps and screenshots with precise instructions. getAbstract finds that this solid software manual does a fine job of showing you how to plan, prioritize and manage your activities by maximizing Outlook’s productivity-boosting capabilities.

Summary

Become More Productive

Many managers believe that productivity means getting the maximum number of activities accomplished daily. Wrong. Productivity means “getting the right things done.” Identifying the correct things to do requires setting “meaningful objectives,” vital reference points for any organizational system. Clear goals focus your activities. They help you understand what data to collect, what decisions to consider, and how to organize, plan, prioritize and use your time.

Beware of “internal limiting beliefs” that blocks productivity. These destructive ideas include: “I should be able to handle all the information that’s coming to me,” “I must respond to all requests,” “I am not a disciplined person,” and “Someone will ask me for it, and so I must keep it.” Substitute positive new precepts, such as “Discipline is a decision, not a personality trait,” “I can be organized and use a system effectively,” and “I [can] create boundaries that allow me to manage interruptions successfully.” To institute this type of thinking, change the way you plan, organize and handle your responsibilities. Microsoft Outlook can be a very helpful tool in that campaign, particularly...

About the Authors

Sally McGhee is a productivity management expert and executive coach. She has trained thousands of business professionals. John Wittry is an executive consultant who works with Fortune 500 companies.