Administrative Arts » Time Management

10 Things To Do When the Computer Is Down

Jodith — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:11:04 +0000

Don’t you hate it when the computer or network is down? You feel like you can’t do anything, we’re so attuned to doing everything electronically these days. After you call the tech folks, what do you do then?

We had a network outage last week, and I had to look around for a few minutes before I really started thinking of things to do while the computer was down.

Here’s some of the things I found to do:

Catch up on filing. If your filing is already caught up (lucky you, mine never is), review your filing system. Are the categories and subcategories you’re currently using still useful? Times change and sometimes you have to change your filing system with them.
Read the trade magazines. I don’t know about your office, but most of my bosses have received constant streams of trade magazines. When he was finished, I’d snitch them to read. It always helps to have current knowledge on your industry. It helps you support the boss better, and it impresses him when he doesn’t have to explain industry terms.
Check your supply of forms. Do you need to photocopy more? This is a good time to attack those.
Ditto for office supplies. Clean out the cabinet, check supplies, see what you need to order.
Ditto for stationary supplies. Envelopes, letterhead, custom notepads, etc. Review your stock and see if you need to order more.
If your office uses pre-made folders for clients, take this time to make up spares to get ahead of the need.
Clean your desk. It’s amazing how dirty our desks can get, isn’t it? I like to take time every once in a while to move everything and clean it all. This is a great time.
Shred that stack of papers you’ve been meaning to get to.
Have a big project coming up? Spend some time brainstorming and making notes for the project.
Do some of those great exercises you can do at your desk. Of course, you’ll need to know them before hand, since the computer is down *laughs*.

If you’re like me, you always have some kind of manual work to do, but you tend to put it off. Times when the computer or network is down are a great time to catch up on things like that.

What do you do when your computer is down?

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“You’re over your limit”

Jodith — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:00:09 +0000

No, no, not your credit card. You’re e-mail account!

We’ve all gotten the dreaded “You’re Over Your Limit” messages in our e-mail. There’s no better way to ruin a good day than to realize you must suddenly drastically reduce the size of your e-mail (or worse yet, your boss’s). You really only have two choices: delete or archive.

Deleting E-mail

This is not your preferred option. Why? Because more and more, courts are treating electronic documents the same as paper ones for legal purposes. You’re probably thinking that you wouldn’t delete anything important. But unfortunately, we often don’t know what is important until after the fact. I keep all e-mail, including those annoying “me too” responses. That “me too” could prove that someone had read the e-mail. Your best bet is to just keep everything. That means you really only have one alternative.

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Archiving E-mail

When we talk about archiving e-mail in Microsoft Outlook, what we mean is moving the e-mail to a Personal File Folder, also referred to as a .pst file, because pst is the extension on the computer file.

There’s a few things you need to remember when working with .pst files.

When you create a Personal File Folder, Windows will create it on your hard drive by default. Most IT departments don’t run backups on individual computer hard drives, so if you have access to a private network drive that is regularly backed up, create your Personal File Folder there. If your folder is already created, you can change it’s location by clicking “File” and then “Data File Management”.
Personal File Folders do have size limits. Folders created in Outlook 2002 and earlier have a size limit of only 2 gigabytes. That may seem large at first glance, but if you frequently e-mail large files, you can fill that up in no time. In Outlook 2003 and later, the file size limit was raised to 20 gigs. So if you have some of these earlier file folders, export them to the newer file type to get more storage capacity.
By default, Windows gives Personal File Folders the terribly descriptive name of “Personal File Folder”. I recommend giving a name with a bit more meaning, especially since over time you are likely to have multiple folders in your archive.

Getting Your Inbox Size Down Fast

To get your Inbox size under control quickly, try these tips:

Sort your e-mail by size. Move the largest e-mails to archive immediately.
Archive your “Sent Items” folder especially if you often send out large attachments. These count against your mail account limits, and people often forget to check this folder.
Check for Sync Errors. If your e-mail administrator has you on cached mode, you will likely have a folder for Sync Errors, which will contain a copy of every e-mail that was duplicated by a Sync error. These files can be quite large. However, you can’t find it in Mail mode. Go to your Folder view in order to see the Sync folders and clear them out.
Don’t forget your Calendar items, Tasks, and Notes. These also apply to your limit, so archiving old items can bring down your total size.

Manage Your Inbox Size with AutoArchive

Once you get your account (or more likely, your boss’s) out of the red zone, keep it down by using the AutoArchive function in Outlook. When you set-up your AutoArchive functions, remember to click the button to “Apply these settings to all folders now”. Folders are generally set to “D0 Not AutoArchive” by default, so you want to be sure to apply the AutoArchive to all folders.

How Do You Manage?

How do you manage the size of your e-mail account? Share your tips with all of us here! Just leave a comment. If you receive this by e-mail or RSS feed, you’ll need to click on the title to go to the web page to make and read comments.Similar Posts:

Managing Calendars Part 2: Scheduling More Than Meetings

Jodith — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:18 +0000

In my last post, I talked about using discretion in scheduling meetings. Today, we’ll go into other ways to manage your boss’s calendar to increase his productivity.

Keep the Calendar More Full Than It Looks

Let’s face it. If there’s a blank spot on your boss’s calendar, someone’s going to want to schedule a meeting there. The higher up in the company your boss goes, the more true that will become. This is where you come in.

Like I said in my last post, your boss can’t be ultimately productive if all he does is attend meetings. So to keep people from trying to schedule meetings for every moment of her day, you’ll need to tie up some of her calendar.

Scheduling Work Time

Sometimes, the only way you’ll be able to set aside work (that is, non-meeting) time, is to actually schedule time for it on your boss’s calendar. I like to schedule two hours of work time every day on my boss’s calendar. The time I schedule is going to depend on your boss. Some prefer work time early in the day; some prefer it later in the day. Some prefer one longer amount of time scheduled; some prefer two shorter time periods to be scheduled.

Whatever your boss’s preferences, be sure to set aside some time every day for work time. Now, that doesn’t mean that you won’t sometimes have to schedule over the work time. Sometimes meetings will take priority. But when that happens, always try to move the work time to later in the day or week.

Using Recurring Meetings

Generally, I use the recurring meeting function in MS Outlook to put work time into the calendar. It’s quick and easy to set up the time, and then you can change just the individual occurences if they need to be moved. Just open a blank meeting and click the “Recurrence” button on the toolbar to set up a recurring meeting.

Other Calendar Tips

Always leave 15 minutes or so between meetings. This gives your boss time to return urgent calls, make notes from the previous meeting, or review his files before the next meeting.
If the meeting isn’t in the office, give at least 30 minutes before and after the meeting for travel time, longer if the drive time is longer.
Remember, your boss needs to eat, too. It’s true, regardless of what office gossip may hold, he’s human just like us. So, always remember to schedule time for him to have lunch. Trust me, she’ll thank you for it.

Share Your Calendar Management Tips

What are your tips for managing your boss’s calendar? Leave a comment and let us know how you manage things.Similar Posts:

Managing Calendars: More Ways to Keep the Boss More Productive

Jodith — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:14 +0000

Last week we talked about helping the boss be more productive by properly screening calls. This week, let’s explore another way to help the boss be more productive: managing the calendar.

More Than Just Scheduling Meetings

“Managing the calendar,” you’re thinking. “Isn’t that just scheduling the boss’s meetings?” Well, scheduling meetings is just part of what it takes to manage your boss’s calendar. You aren’t just scheduling meetings, you’re doing something much more important. You’re managing his time!

It’s All About Time Management

Think about it. Your boss has so much more to do than attend meetings. If all his time is taken up in meetings, he’ll never get anything else done. Your job is to make sure she’s not so overwhelmed with meetings that she can’t get manage other work.

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Just Like Screening Calls

Just because your boss is invited to a meeting doesn’t mean he really needs to be there. Just like screening phone calls, you need to use your judgement here to figure out which meetings to approve and which ones to delegate to someone else.

When you first start a new job this can be quite difficult. Until you get a grasp of your boss’s priorities, it’s a good idea to review his calendar during your daily meetings. Go over all new meeting requests so he can decide which ones he needs to attend and which not. After a while, you’ll get a feel for what can be delegated and can’t, and you’ll be able to start using your own judgment, just like screening calls.

But What About the Rest of the Time

As I said before, managing the boss’s calendar is about more than just scheduling the boss’s meetings (or not scheduling them as the case may be). In Wednesday’s post, I’ll go into more depth about scheduling other necessities for your boss to keep him as productive as possible.Similar Posts:

Ask the Admin: Scheduling Tasks for Others

Jodith — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:00:52 +0000

And we have another question about Microsoft Outlook, this time about scheduling e-mails. Json asked in his e-mail:

Hi I read your article about setting up recurring tasks and wonder if there is any way to do automatic email reminders to my staff. My staff members have tasks with different due dates. For example, staff A has a yearly recurring task with due date on July 1, staff B has a yearly recurring task with due date on March 1…. Is there anyway I can set up auto email reminders to them respectively 5 days, 1 day prior to due date? Or do I have to buy a third party application for that?

My reply to Json:

You have two options here. You can schedule an e-mail to each team (I have directions here in my post about scheduling e-mails in MS Outlook), or you can create a task and assign it to the team, which will put the task on the task list of the person or persons assigned to the task. Just create a task and set the recurrence for yearly, and set the due date and start date for the task. Then click the Assign button and assign it to the person or persons who will be working on that task. Don’t forget to set the reminder before sending the task.

I prefer the second option. Microsoft Outlook has a nice setup for working on tasks as a team. You can put notes in the task to note the progress. Set up regular reminders of the task, and even attach documents the team needs to do the work. And it allows the boss to monitor the progress of the task and keep track of it. I think, probably, that most people don’t use even half of the powerful capabilities of Microsoft Outlook.

Thanks for your question, Json.

What’s Your Opinion?

Anyone have any alternate ways to solve Json’s issue?

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Handling Conflicting Priorities

Jodith — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:00:21 +0000

NOTE: Don’t forget to enter my contest to win a Starbuck’s Gift Card.

photo credit: graymalkn

Do you ever feel like you’re caught in a game of tug-o-war….and you’re the rope? These days, supporting multiple managers is the norm more than the exception, and it isn’t uncommon to receive conflicting priorities from the various managers you support. It is imperative to learn to manage conflicting priorities as an Administrative or Executive Assistant. Because you know what? You’re the one who’ll get the blame if everything isn’t done on time.

So, what do you do when you have multiple managers, each with their own urgent priorities, trying to pull you in different directions? This is where your negotiation skills will stand you in good stead.

Talk to the Managers Individually

Your first step should be to talk to the managers involved individually. Ask them not just when they want a project completed, but what is their absolute, drop dead date when it must be done. Often, when put this way, the manager will acknowledge that there may be some leeway in their deadline. I usually ask this question any time I get a project, just so I can avoid having to ask if a conflict arises. I always shoot for the “want” date, but sometimes have to fall back on the “must have” date. Remember, though, to always let a manager know if you need to use the fall back date.

Have a Meeting with the Managers Involved

Often, just talking to the managers and letting them know that you have some conflicting priorities will resolve the issue. If it doesn’t though, set up a meeting with the managers together to resolve the issue. Remember, you are not there to make a decision. You are there to inform and negotiate. Even if you have the authority through your boss to make these kinds of decisions, it’s better politically to get the conflicting managers to come to an amicable decision on their own. If you have knowledge of what your boss’s priorities are, that information can often help realign priorities a bit. Compromise is the name of the game. If you can convince both managers to each move a bit, you can often get your issue resolved.

Get Your Boss Involved

This is the last ditch effort. If you absolutely cannot get the managers to compromise, then take it to your boss to make a decision. Why is this the last thing you want to do? As a high level administrative assistant or executive assistant, you need to learn to handle these types of conflicts without involving your boss. That’s part of the expertise many high level executives want to see in their admins. If you have to take these decisions to your boss on a regular basis, then you need to look at your skill set. Figure out what skills you are lacking and find appropriate training to improve those skills.

As an administrative or executive assistant, you must be able to negotiate priorities quickly and without causing ill feelings among your managers.Similar Posts:

10 Things To Do When You Have Nothing To Do

Jodith — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:32:56 +0000

photo credit: sunshinecity

One piece of advice that I give to every up-and-coming administrative assistant is this: NEVER SIT IDLE! If you have nothing to do, then go out and find something to do. Occasionally, though, you do find yourself temporarily at loose ends, so here’s a list of 10 things to do when you have nothing to do.

1. Clean up/Reorganize your desk

Go through your whole desk. Clean out the inevitable junk drawer, move things around to make them more accessible, toss out old pens that don’t write, clean your keyboard, monitor and phone (in my experience these always need cleaning), move your deskpad and clean under it, clean the crumbs and dust from your keyboard tray. In other words, just give everything a good sprucing up and make everything nice and organized.

2. Review Your Files

Go through and review all of your files. Start with your working files. Make sure everything is current and appropriately labeled. Make sure no labels are falling off and need to be replaced. Move any no longer current files to your reference/history files. When you’re done, do the same thing for your main files, moving older items to archives. If you haven’t already done so, type up a file structure for handy reference for when you’re looking for a file but can’t remember where you filed it (that’s saved my buns a time or two).

3. Read Through Your Contacts

Whether you keep them hard copy in a Rolodex or electronically in a program like MS Outlook, you should periodically review your contacts and update the information. I’m not just talking about phone number and address, but also little details you learn over time like the assistant’s name and number (vital information), spouse and childrens’ names, likes and dislikes. Also any negatives that you might need to know about next time they visit or call, like we had a major glitch on their account last year and really, really want to keep them happy. These are the kinds of details that help cement relationships and make clients feel appreciated.

4. Review Your Desk Reference/Procedures Manual

Go through your Desk Reference/ Procedures Manual and look for items that need updating or adding. Have you taken on a new duty that you don’t have documented? Have some of your duties changed? Take time to update your desk manual so anyone coming in behind you knows how things are done.

What do you mean you don’t have a Desk Reference Manual? Well, this is the perfect time to make one, isn’t it?

5. Organize Office Supplies

It’s been my experience that it doesn’t matter how often you organize your office supplies, they always need straightening again. I don’t know what it is, but when people get into the office supply cabinet, they are like little kids, just scattering things too and fro. Straightening up the office supply cabinet is always good for a few minutes work when you’re at loose ends, and people actually do notice and appreciate when the supply cabinet is user friendly.

6. Set up Recurring Tasks

Go into MS Outlook and set up recurring tasks for all of your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly duties. That way, when days are crazy, it’s easy to remember tasks that might otherwise slip your mind. I have reminders set up for little things like remembering to lock my file cabinets when I leave, as well as big things like running year end reports. While I don’t need the reminders every day for some tasks, it’s nice to have them there on those infrequent days that I do forget them.

7. Review Your Office Equipment

Is some of your office equipment aging? Spend some time looking at and pricing alternatives so when you do need to replace some of your equipment, you can do so quickly and easily.

8. Redesign Reports

Are there some regular reports that you look at and think could be done better, but you just never had the time? Well, now you do. Go in and redesign some of those reports that have good information but are ugly to look at or the ones that have good information but could have better. I always like to keep a list of little projects like this to have around for when times are slower.

9. Enter Business Cards into Contacts

Enter that huge stack of business cards your boss is hoarding into his Contacts list in Outlook. If you have a business card scanner, that makes it even easier.

10. Brush Up On Your Software Skills

These days the amount of software skill a good administrative assistant is expected to know is mind boggling. Use your down time to increase your skill with existing software, or even expand your skills with new software.

Remember, nothing looks worse for an Administrative Assistant or other office professional than to be seen sitting idle. Regardless of how much work you do, trust me, what they’ll remember at review time was the one time they saw you sitting with nothing to do.Similar Posts:

What Are Your New Year’s Goals?

Jodith — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:36:53 +0000

As the holidays wind down, New Year’s Day looms, and with it the spectre of New Year’s Resolutions. While most people look at these resolutions in a personal sense, like losing weight, exercising more, or being more assertive, I’ve found it beneficial to apply the idea of New Year’s Resolutions to work as well. We need goals in our jobs as well as in our personal life. After all, how do we know what we are achieving if we aren’t striving for something?

How to make good, achievable resolutions

We often make resolutions, but after a few weeks, they fade into the background, and we don’t think about them again until the next New Year. Here’s some tips for not just making, but keeping your resolutions:

Keep it achievable. Make sure your resolution is possible. Don’t shoot for the moon, but rather incremental steps toward your goal. If you set your bar too high, you can feel overwhelmed by the challenge. Instead, set small, achievable goals that will step you along the way to the ultimate goal of your resolution.
Make it specific. A goal that is too general isn’t always an impetus for change. State specifically what you want to achieve. Losing weight is too general. Losing 20 pounds is an actual goal that you can mark yourself against.
List concrete steps towards your goal. Don’t just state what you want to achieve, but make part of your resolution specific steps you intend to take to meet the goal. If you want to be more assertive, add a goal of speaking up at least once in every staff meeting. Again, keep it achievable. And every time you achieve your goal, remember to reward yourself, even if it’s just a mental pat on the back!
Share your goal with at least one other person. It’s easy to lie to ourselves, but it’s harder to backtrack when we have someone else helping us to be accountable.

My work related resolutions for this year are fairly simple:

Learn CSS (cascading style sheets). I’ve already dabbled with CSS in my blogs, since it’s the backbone of WordPress. However, since it’s also the styling for SharePoint, learning CSS is a good direction for me to take not only in my current job, but in my career as well. So, I resolve to spend at least 1 hour per week this year working on my CSS skills.
Keep my desk neater. Neatness has never been my forte, so this year, my goal is to keep everything neater. Keep my pens in a cup, keep my papers in their folders. Put things away when I’m not using them. I resolve to spend 10 minutes every evening before I go home and 10 minutes before lunch every day tidying up my desk so it remains neater.
Be more assertive in asking for new duties. I’ve been holding back in this job so far, but I’ve seen a number of things around this office that I can lend my expertise to. So I’m putting together a list of things to cover with my boss on extra duties I can take on when I’m not tied up with my primary job here. I resolve to set up a meeting with him during the first two weeks of January to share my ideas.

So, what are your work and/or career resolutions for this year? It can be anything from a small resolution relating to a current duty, or something as big as getting a new job in another industry. Share with us your resolutions for 2009 and how you want to go about achieving them. Or if you aren’t sure how to achieve them, ask and we’ll help you with some ideas for achieving your goals this year.

So, what are your goal for the New Year? Share them with us. Maybe we can help?Similar Posts:

Using the 43 folder system effectively

Jodith — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:24:35 +0000

Chrissy over at OfficeArrow wrote a great post describing the 43 Folder reminder system. What? You don’t know what the 43 Folder system is? Well, go read Chrissy’s article now….I’ll wait).

Back? It’s a great system, isn’t it? This system is very effective at keeping up with all of those little pieces of paper that have time frames attached to them: the notes the boss needs for a certain meeting, tasks that need to be performed on a specific date, that sort of thing. Chrissy’s post did a great job of covering the basics of the system, so I thought I would add some tips to use the system more effectively.

photo credit: mrmanc

Remember to check the files! I know, I know…this should be self-evident, but if you’re like me, you tend to get engrossed in your work and forget these little day to day tasks, important though they may be. I always set a recurring reminder in Outlook to remind me of daily, weekly and monthly recurring tasks.
Keep an eye on the files for several days ahead. If the boss has a big meeting coming up, she might want a couple of days to review the files on it. And, if her meeting is first thing the next morning, be sure to give her the files the night before in case she goes directly to the meeting first.
Put a note on the items detailing what the meeting is for, who it is with, and the date of the meeting. It’s easy two months down the line to forget why you put something in the file. Be sure to make a note to remind yourself.
Don’t put big files in your reminder folders. Big files make it harder to see what’s in your folder, and makes it easy to accidentally put another reminder into the wrong file (and yes, I’ve done that). Instead, put a note to pull the appropriate folder on that date.

The 43 Folder system can be an indespensible tool for the good administrative assistant, but, like any tool, it is only as good as the person who is using it. Think about the tools you use and the most effective ways of using them. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about using Outlook to supplement or even replace the 43 Folder system.

So, how many of you use the 43 Folder system? What makes it effective for you, and what do/would you do to make it more effective?

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Free Office Help

Jodith — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:42:19 +0000

photo credit: buba69

Do you always seem to have more tasks than time to complete them, but there just isn’t any money to hire help? There are some free and subsidized alternatives out there to get you the help you need.

One good source is to find interns to help. If you have a community college in your area that has an Office Administration program (especially if they offer an Associate’s Degree), they often require students to perform an internship. Contact them to find out how to become a preceptor site for their students. The good thing about this alternative is that they usually have a fair bit of training before they get to you, so can be set to help with more complex tasks with relatively little training.

Another alternative is to become a site for a community jobs program in your area. These are usually persons in a welfare to work program that helps them gain job skills so that they can eventually get a paid job. The downside here is that they require much more training on your part. However, they can sometimes work for you for as long as a year, so would have less turnover than you would with community college interns. Call some of the social service agencies in your town to find out if there is such a program in your area.

For a subsidized alternative, check with your local university or community college to find some work study students. Much of their pay is subsidized, so it’s a low cost alternative to hiring a regular employee. The downside here is that they tend to take off when school is not in session, and you tend to get turnover from semester to semester.

Whatever alternative you can find, an extra pair of hands can certainly be a help around the office.

Who knows of any other ways to get free/subsidized help for your office tasks? Leave a comment and let us know!Similar Posts:

Keeping a Time Log

Jodith — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:23:14 +0000

Over at Laughing All the Way to Work, Patricia wrote a very good post on how to prepare for your annual evaluation.

I’ve found that many times, my bosses don’t really have a real understanding of what I do all day. So it is my habit to keep a time log so that at any time, they can see what exactly it is that I do. I developed this system when I was working for a graphic design firm where I had to keep a time sheet to track billable hours for client billings. I found it so useful, though, that I continue to keep one where ever I work.

Here’s a link to a sample of my current time log. I’m working for a non-profit agency where I’m the only administrative support person, so I do work for all of our departments. The cost of my salary is distributed amid the various departments depending on how much time I spend working for them. I also have a column included to track the type of work I do since I wear many hats, and whether it’s a daily, weekly or monthly duty or a special project, just so the boss can see my time distribution. On one sheet is the basic data page, and on the other is a pivot table to help analyze the data for my boss.Similar Posts:

Creating Recurring Tasks in Microsoft Outlook

Jodith — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:50:15 +0000

In my last post, I showed you how to create tasks in Microsoft Outlook to provide reminders and help you track your tasks. Today, I’ll cover creating recurring tasks in Outlook.

We all have those tasks that we do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. However, if you have a short attention span like me, you’ll think about doing it, but as soon as the phone rings, it completely slips your mind, and you don’t think about it again until the next day. For folks like me with a short attention span, not to mention the short term memory loss that comes as we get older, the recurring task function in Outlook is a big help.

You begin to create your task as you would any other by opening a new task window. In that window, click on the recurrence button.

This will bring up the Task Recurrence window. You have 4 choices for the type of recurrence you want.

Daily Recurrence

You have several choices for how you want the daily recurrence to happen:
- Every day
- Every weekday
- Regenerate each task however many days after the first one is completed
Most of the time, I use the Every weekday option, since I use this mostly at work. It will generate a task for every weekday. Every day works the same way. The 3rd option, though, will only generate one task, and won’t generate the next until you mark the first one complete. Essentially, you can snooze the task for a week, and won’t get another one until you mark it complete. With the first two options, if you snooze the task for more than 24 hours, when you mark it complete, it will generate the next task for the day after the creation of the first one. If you choose the third option, it will generate the next task 1 day after the completion of the first one. If you will be snoozing these tasks for more than 24 hours, it is best to use the 3rd option. Otherwise the first two work.

Remember, though, if you use the first two options, and you let it get more than 24 hours behind, once you mark it complete, you will stop getting reminders, since the reminder date/time of the newly originated task will already be past. You’ll need to go to your task list and either mark the new one complete or open it and reset the reminder time. If you miss several days, you’ll need to keep marking the new ones complete until you get it current. This applies to Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly options as well.
Weekly Tasks

Weekly tasks can be set to recur every week on the same day of the week or to regenerate every a number of weeks after the first is marked complete.
Monthly Tasks

Monthly tasks can be set to recur on a specific day of the month, or on a specific weekday of the month. For instance, if you send out the agenda for a meeting on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, you would want to use this option to generate the task. As usual, you can also set it to recur one month after the completion of the first.
Yearly Tasks

Yearly tasks can also be set for a specific date (a reminder of the boss’s birthday, for instance), or for a specific weekday each year. And, of course, set for one year after the completion of the first date.

Once you have your recurrence options set, you need to set how many times you want the task to recur.

Set the date you want the first task to begin, and then set how long you want it to recur:

No end date
End after a specific number of occurences
End on a specific date

I usually use no end date, since most of my tasks are things I do as part of my job duties. However, if you are taking on a task for a limited amount of time such as when someone is on vacation, you can use one of the other two options to limit how long the tasks recur.

You may also want to note that this is the same window that is used when you create a recurrent meeting on your calendar.

Once you have all of your recurring task options set, click OK. This sends you back to your Task window to finish putting in the rest of the data for your task. Don’t forget to set the reminder time or you won’t get reminders!

If you have any questions about any of this, just ask. My e-mail address is linked in the right sidebar or you can just use the handy comment function.

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Never Lose Track of Another Task

Jodith — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:45:06 +0000

Over the years, I have used a number of different methods to track tasks, from sticky notes stuck to my monitor, to a steno pad to write down tasks. While I still use a steno pad to write down tasks as they come to me, my main organizational tool is Microsoft Outlook. Using the Tasks function, you can keep your task list, set reminders, make notes, and even create a recurring task for those daily, weekly and monthly tasks on your list.

To use Tasks in Microsoft Outlook, first click on either the Tasks button on the Outlook Shortcut Bar or on Tasks in the Folder List:

You can create a new task in one of two ways. You can click in the box that says “Click Here to add a new task”.

Type in the name of the task and hit enter, and the task will be created. However, it will not have any reminder or other options set, so you will have to double click on the task to set the options you want.

Alternatively, you can do what I do and just double click on a blank space in the task window to bring up the Task dialog box, where you can enter all of the options you want for this task.

In the Task dialog box, you can set the Due Date, the Start Date, the Priority Level, and the status of the Task. You can also set your reminders, and make any pertinent notes about the task such as a timeline for the task or notes on the status of the task.

By setting reminders for your tasks, you can not only get reminders so you don’t forget the task, but also snooze the reminders so it keeps popping up until you have time to work on it. And you don’t have to spend all the time rewriting each day’s task lists to include tasks not finished yesterday along with the new tasks for today.

Next post: Setting up recurring tasks.

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Organizing Your Desk for Optimum Efficiency.

Jodith — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:22:28 +0000

While I am not a stickler for a neat desk (anyone who works with me will tell you that my desk is not the epitomy of neatness), a certain amount of organization is necessary in our field. We generally have so many daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, not to mention special projects going on, that we must know where everything is located in order to make the best use of our time.

When planning how best to organize your files and folders, always think about what tasks you perform and how often you perform them. Keep the items you need frequently close at hand, and keep those items not needed frequently in the further away drawers and file cabinets. Saving time looking for and/or retrieving needed materials is time you can spend on performing the task at hand.

On my desk, I have a folder riser where I keep folders for my daily tasks and any special project that I am currently working on. For instance, two of my daily duties are running background checks and processing donations. As I receive items for these tasks, I put them in the appropriate folder so I can process all of them at the same time once a day. My time is better managed doing all of the same tasks at once rather than starting and stopping other projects all day to process them as they come in. I set task reminders in Outlook to remind me of my recurring tasks.

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Items I work with frequently but not necessarily daily go in my desk file drawer, so they are close to hand but not out on my desk and in my way as I work. These include forms for various tasks and files for vendors that I deal with frequently.

Items that I deal with once a month or less are kept in my file cabinets at the back of my office. Since I have to get up to pull files from these cabinets, nothing I work with frequently is kept there. This is also where I keep files for finished tasks, such as my current fiscal year donation files. At the end of each year, those files are boxed up and sent to archives to make room for the coming year’s files.

Of course, any file that can be kept electronically, is kept so. I keep as many files as possible on my network drive so I can access them from any computer connected to the network. That way, even if I’m working at someone else’s desk for some reason, I still have access to many of my files, minimizing trips back and forth to my desk.

Every administrative assistant has her own way of organizing their workspace. What’s important is to find the way that best suits you and your own work style. Just remember, though, don’t spend so much time keeping organized that you take time away from your actual duties.Similar Posts:

Never Forget Another E-mail

Jodith — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:30:17 +0000

A fairly common occurrence in the life of an administrative assistant is getting an e-mail requesting a task to be performed. It is very easy to set a reminder on that e-mail so you don’t forget to complete the task.

Right click on the e-mail
Choose Follow Up on the shortcut menu and then Add Reminder.
Next to Due By click on the drop down arrow and choose the date when you want the reminder.
On the box next to that one, click the drop down arrow and choose the time you want for the reminder.
Click OK. You now have a reminder set on the e-mail that will appear in your reminder pop up box at the date and time you entered. You can choose to snooze the task for a certain amount of time by clicking on the arrow next to Snooze, and setting the amount of time until the next reminder, and then clicking the Snooze button.
When you have completed the task, right click on it in the reminder window and choose Flag Complete. That will show the flag as completed and you will no longer get reminders. Note: if you click the dismiss button you will not ever get another reminder, so do not click dismiss unless the task no longer needs doing.

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