Contextures Blog

I’ve got a few different Signatures set up in Outlook 2007. Most of the time I use my business signature, but occasionally I’d like to use one of the others.

Usually I use the Ribbon commands, but I’ve just discovered a mouse shortcut that makes it much easier. I’ll be using the shortcut from now on.

Use the Ribbon

To insert a different Signature with the Ribbon commands:

1. Create a new Outlook message
2. On the Ribbon, click the Insert tab.
3. Click Signature, then click a Signature name, or click Signatures, to open the Signatures and Stationery dialog box.

Use the Mouse Shortcut

With a mouse shortcut, it’s even easier to change or create a Signature.

1. In a Outlook message right-click on the Signature
2. In the popup menu, click a Signature name, or click Signatures, to open the Signatures and Stationery dialog box.

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Last December, Priacta offered free enrollment in Total Relaxed Organization, their online time management course, so I signed up, and worked on the lessons over the Christmas holidays.

It changed the way I work, and almost three months later, I’m still using the techniques that I learned.

The course is based on Getting Things Done, and helps you clear up your workspace and organize your tasks. You can customize the course for the PDA or smart phone that you use, and your preferred task list. I chose Outlook (Excel wasn’t an option) and Blackberry.

The course is in three parts:

• Principles and Preparation
• Collecting and Organizing
• Processing, Reviewing, Doing

The lessons were well organized, and clearly written, with a navigation pane at the left, and lesson content on the right.

The site records the time you spend on the online course, and it took me about 10 hours complete the lessons.

I spent a few more hours offline, cleaning up my office. Telephone coaching was offered at several points during the course, to speed up the process, but I didn’t opt for that.

I’m sure the coaches are fine people, but I didn’t hit any snags where I felt a personal coach would help.

What I Learned

The object is to collect your tasks in a few specific places, such as email, voice mail and inbox, instead of many scattered places, including your memory.

Then, you process what you’ve collected, and work from a prioritized task list, with supporting documents filed away until you’re ready to use them.

For me, this was the most useful lesson, because I used to keep stacks of folders near my desk, for projects I was working on. Now the papers are filed by client name, and I can’t feel their beady eyes burning into me as I work.

That reduces my stress level, because I’m dealing with one task at a time, not trying to juggle several things.

I didn’t like all of the suggestions for changes to Outlook, so ignored much of that. Also, although I chose Outlook during the setup, I substituted my Excel task list, so didn’t follow all the steps exactly.

I was able to categorize, sort and filter things in Excel, but in a slightly different way than you would in Outlook.

Have You Tried It?

I think the first 8 or 9 lessons are always free, and the complete course (23 lessons) is $99 (the site says it’s currently $69). The course might not suit your work style, but if you want to get organized, look at the free lessons and see if you like it.

Have you already tried the course, or something similar? Did you find it helpful, and stick with it?
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If you spend long hours working at your computer, with only an occasional jaunt to the lunch room, you might benefit from Twittercize. Ron Doyle is a Denver-based freelance writer who posts short exercises in Twitter, and they’re designed for you to do in a minute or so at your desk.

During the workday, he posts about one tip per hour. For example,

Dilberts: Sit upright, cross arms at chest, contract stomach muscles. Bow forward like you’re banging your head on your desk! 30 times slow!

or

Hulk Hogans: Elbows up, hands at your heart, pull back like Hulk ripping a yellow tank top! Squeeze those shoulder blades 30 times!

Twittercize is free and much easier than getting out to the gym for a workout, although there’s a disclaimer that you should consult your physician before starting any exercise program.

You can follow Ron in Twitter at twitter.com/twittercize.

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An important step in setting up my new laptop is figuring out what’s on my old laptop. To get a complete list of installed programs, plus details on hardware, installed security updates, and other details, you can use the free program, Belarc Advisor.

Download and install the program, then run it to audit your computer. The results show up in your web browser, although all the details are stored on your computer, not uploaded to the web.

The web page shows your overall audit score, virus protection information, and the status of all Microsoft Security Updates.

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I’m setting up my new laptop, and plan to copy my bookmarks from the old laptop. Before I copy them, I’ll clear out the dead links, to tidy things up a bit. There’s no point in copying useless data to the new machine.

If you’d like to do this on your machine, you can use the free utility AM-Deadlink. It finds dead links and duplicate links in your list of browser bookmarks.

It’s easy to install and use, and takes only a couple of minutes to check my bookmarks (about 1700). Then I sort the list by error number, and delete any 404 pages.

You can also use AM-Deadlink to create backup files for the bookmarks.

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