If you’re like me, you’re always looking for better ways to maximize your time and streamline your daily tasks so you can spend more time on what really matters.

Outlook is a great tool to help manage my time effectively and boost productivity. 

Reducing clutter and increasing organizing go a long way toward increase efficiency and maximizing my time.

There are many great functions that are often overlooked:

1. Categorize ─ The most recent version of Outlook comes with a snazzy new feature: you can now categorize messages by color. In Outlook 2003, you could assign objects to categories and various colored flags to messages. Now, the categories and colors are combined.

As you use the color categories, you can rename them, so that blue means ‘business’ and red means ‘personal’, or whatever you want. It’s a quick and easy way to sort and prioritize your emails so you know what to deal with now, and what to save for later.

2. The search feature ─ Can’t find what you’re looking for? The search feature in Outlook 2007 comes with expanded features. You can enter search criteria based on any combination of the To, From, or Subject fields of a message, or the message body. The search happens as you type and the results are displayed as soon as they’re found, even if the search is still running.

3. Attachment preview ─ How often do you load an attachment and question if you got the right one? The attachment previewer on Outlook allows you to view your attachment in the reading pane. No more wondering if you got right or not! When you receive an attachment via email, you can also preview its contents without opening it, so you can determine if you need to open it now, or save it for later.

4. Scheduling ─ Schedule meetings in less time. With Outlook 2007 and Exchange 2007, when you enter in a meeting request between attendees, everyone’s schedule is reviewed and a meeting time is recommended. If a change is made, the attendees are updated. No more hustling to the board room just to discover the meeting isn’t until tomorrow.

5. The spell checker ─ Don’t know if it’s affect or effect? Typed out their instead of there? Editing makes people crazy and takes up a lot of time you could be using for other things. The Outlook spell checker now finds and flags some contextual errors. It’s not a replacement for your own review process, but it streamlines the process and makes it easier.

6. To-Do bar ─ Now you can stay on top and stay productive! The To-Do bar combines your tasks, e-mail messages you’ve flagged for follow up, impending appointments, and calendar information all in one place. You’ve got a view of your day and its priorities all in one glace. You can customize when you want to follow up on an item, and if you forget to mark an item as complete, it rolls over to the next day until you address it.

7. Outlook and SharePoint ─ With Outlook, you can connect to information stored in SharePoint lists from anywhere. Browse through the files in your Document Library. Connect calendars, document libraries, discussion boards, contacts, and tasks into Office Outlook 2007, and then preview, search, or edit that content.

8. RSS Feeds ─ Need to stay up to date on the news. Outlook allows you to access all the content from multiple sources in one place, so you can get the latest information quickly and easily. No more visiting different websites or entering your email address over and over.

9. Out of Office Assistant ─ When you use an Exchange 2007 account, you can schedule your Out of Office times in advance so you don’t have to worry about forgetting to turn it on and off. You can also separate messages into categories, so you’ll know which ones are from work and which ones are from outside your company.

10. Publish calendars to Microsoft Office Online ─ Share your calendar with anyone or a select few by publishing your calendar online. Why is this useful? You can share your availability or the latest developments with coworkers or clients without being saddled to any particular operating system.

So allow Outlook to work for you. Make use of your limited time, clear the clutter, and get things done!