Tri-Valley Mortgage News

If you are a Microsoft Outlook user I'm willing to bet you use it mainly for Mail and maybe to keep track of your appointments in the Calendar. Perhaps you put your Contacts in there and if you're really cooking, you make use of the Tasks manager. But I want to introduce you to a really nifty function that most people know nothing about: the Notes feature.

Open Outlook right now and take a look at the left side of your screen...oh, you've got mail! Okay, wait to read it and look to the left towards the bottom. You'll either see the word Notes in addition to the other Outlook functions (fig.A) or, if your menu bar has been shortened, you will see a small button at the bottom that looks like a cute little Post-It with one corner curled up (fig.B).

                   (fig.A)                                                                       (fig.B)

So what are these cyber Post-Its and what are they for you ask? Really that's up to you. Do you already have tons of real Post-Its clustered around your work space and monitor? Is the visual clutter starting to bug you? If so, this is a terrific place to digitally store these little references. Note: if you use Post-Its to remind yourself to do things then I'd suggest using the Tasks function but that's another post!

The purpose I use Notes for primarily is to keep track of all my frequently-visited website logins, user names and associated URLs. I have a note for each site and when I open that note it gives me all this handy info. Here is what my Notes list looks like right now:

This works fabulously for me because I did away with my Rolodex years ago and used Windows Address book for a while but I found it laborious. Notes is more convenient since I don't have to open up a new program to access the needed info - I've got Outlook going all day.

Another popular use is to copy clips of text from a website to store as reference. Just open a new note (CNTL+SHIFT+N or use the top File menu or the "New" button directly underneath) and drag the selected text onto the note. The first line of the text you selected will be the default title of the note but you can change the title by typing it above the first line of text in the open note.

When you have more than a few notes you'll want to keep them organized. I like to keep mine in alphabetical order. This is not as user-friendly as it should be in my opinion but the way I've figured it out is to go to View -> Customize Current View -> Hit "Sort" -> Choose "Subject" and click the "Ascending" button. This will alphabetize the icons. I find that I have to do this over again every time I add a Note which is a little annoying but no big deal.

Also, you can create different folders to sort your notes into categories. On the File menu choose New and then Folder. You'll see a new note icon folder on the navigation pane to your left. Then you can drag and drop notes into this folder. Here are some other options for the folders:

• Drag notes between folders by pressing and holding the CTRL key while dragging the note between two folders.
• Put the same note in multiple folders by making copies of the note.
• Forward a note to someone by attaching the note to an e-mail message by right-clicking the note, and then clicking Forward.
• Print a note by right-clicking a note, and then click Print.

 You can make the Notes function of Outlook as simple or as complex as you want. Tailor it to your needs and you'll never miss the mountain of Post-Its around your monitor!   

You can also see my previous postings on Keyboard Shortcuts for Outlook & Saving Time with Keyboard Shortcuts for additional information.