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A series of articles emphasizing practical
knowledge you can't find in practice guides
and interviews with experts who share
their techniques for effective and efficient
case management
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Articles emphasizing practical knowledge you
can't find in practice guides
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Profiles of people who changed workers’
compensation law.
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• Warren
Schneider
• Marjory Harris
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In this series, we explore organizational techniques,
software and hardware that will help you clear the
mess from your desk, be more productive, and cut
office overhead.
This article presents some software solutions for tracking to
dos. |
If
you missed previous Computer Corners:
How to Calculate Settlement Values and Organize Issues
and Evidence with a Downloadable Settlement Spreadsheet.
click
here.
“How to Organize Medical Issues and Evidence”
with a Downloadable Medical Manager Spreadsheet
click
here
"How to Store It, How to Find It with downloadable
folder tree and icon" click
here.
“How to Work Faster, More Efficiently, and with
Lower Overhead” click
here.
"A Case Management Adjunct" click
here. |
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Do you have various to-do lists, written or electronic,
piles of post-its, or scraps of papers to remind you
of various obligations? Perhaps even a to do list of
your various to-do lists? An easy solution is to use
Outlook to organize your tasks.
There are several ways to open a task in Outlook:
- From anywhere in Outlook, use the keyboard shortcut
Ctrl+Shift+K.
- You can also put a Task button on the menu bar:
click on the Tools menu (or just right click on the
menu bar) and select "Customize." Click
on "Actions" and drag the "New Task"
button to the menu bar.
- Or you can put a button on your launch bar by creating
a shortcut on the desktop and dragging it to your
Quick Launch bar. Right click on the desktop, choose
“New” then “Shortcut,” then
paste in "C:\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OUTLOOK.EXE"
-c IPM.Task /m "%1" Make sure to include
the quote marks and the correct folder where outlook.exe
is stored.
- You can drag and drop an e-mail to the Task bar
on the Navigation Pane (Alt+F1). This works too with
Contacts, Appointments and Notes.
- If you use OneNote,
you can send a Task to Outlook. You can also do this
from Access
and Accomplice.
Once you have opened a Task, you can use Insert on
the menu bar to insert files or Outlook items. If it
is a simple task, it is enough to put some language
in the subject field, but in a more complex task you
can organize notes, with links to other information,
you can paste in text or graphics, send the task by
e-mail, etc. You can even make the task into a to do
list for a project.
There are various books that detail how to use Tasks
for full efficiency: Total Workday Control Using
Microsoft Outlook, 2nd Ed. by Michael Linenberger
is excellent, as is Getting
Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
by David Allen. Depending on your level of compulsivity
and obsessiveness, you may or may not want to follow
the authors’ systems.
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Here
is a simplified version that only requires reading this
article.
Make it easy to open a task, using the methods listed
above. For a quick look at what you have to do today,
this week, or this month, you can view your tasks in
conjunction with the Calendar by making the TaskPad
visible: click “View” on the menu bar and
select “TaskPad.” Then click on “TaskPad
View” and select the tasks you want to show. As
you complete tasks, check the box and they disappear
from view.
If you look at the tasks in Task rather than Calendar,
you can see your tasks in many different ways. On the
menu bar, click “View” then “Arrange
By” then “Current View” to see the
different choices. You can make this process much easier
by placing a button on the menu bar that allows you
to go right to Current View: right click on the Tools
menu (or just right click on the menu bar) and select
"Customize." Click on "View" and
drag the "Current View" button to the menu
bar.
Some other neat features
of Tasks:
- Recurrence: click on this
button on the menu bar and set the times you want
this task to recur automatically. For example, your
professional liability insurance. In the task, you
might want to insert the contact at your insurance
company (on menu bar, click Insert then Item. Go to
Contacts and find the one you want, highlight it and
click OK). You can also insert a link to a scanned
copy of your policy.
- Assign Task: click on this
button on the menu bar and send the task by e-mail.
When you click on “To” your address book/contact
list opens.
- Status Report: click on “Actions”
on the menu bar and select “Send Status Report.”
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Putting it all together
Here are some scenarios for making Outlook Tasks an
effective way to manage your to do list:
- You receive an e-mail from
the adjuster requesting a settlement demand. Drag
and drop the e-mail to the Task bar in the Navigation
Pane. The Task will open with the data from the e-mail.
If someone else is to prepare the demand, assign the
task using the "Assign Task" feature. Note
what needs to be done in the memo field. Insert links
to relevant files, If any. If your Settlement
Analyzer is not up to date, there may be a number
of sub tasks that need to be completed in order to
prepare the demand (e.g., research future medical
costs for the client's worked-related conditions).
Insert the due date and priority level and save the
task. You can also save a copy to the client's folder
by clicking on "File" in the menu bar, then
"Save As" and selecting Rich Text Format.
This will preserve any links from inserted files or
graphics.
- You are reading posts on the
legal forum and see a great question to ask in an
upcoming deposition. Block the text and drag it to
the Task bar. A task will open with the text. Insert
the client's name and other data in the subject line
so it is easy to find later, and save this until you
can incorporate it in your deposition questionnaire.
- You have a deposition of a
doctor coming up in a remote location and need to
make travel plans. Drag the calendar item to the Task
bar. Copy and paste directions, flight schedule, etc.,
into the memo pad. There is a picture of the doctor
on his website which you also can copy and paste into
the memo. Find a good nearby restaurant and paste
in that information. Before leaving, print the Task.
You have everything in one place instead of on bits
and pieces of papers and Post-its.
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| If you want
even more flexibility, consider
Accomplice, inexpensive software that integrates with
Outlook and allows you to make customized Activity Lists,
add subtasks and notes. The program can be installed on
a Windows PC or a U3 Smart USB flash drive. By syncing
with Outlook, not only are your Tasks and Calendar Items
readily visible, but you can quickly search in Accomplice
for Tasks, notes and E-Mails. |
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Send in your tips for office organization or
requests for solutions to office problems.
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