This course teaches you how to get the most out of Microsoft Outlook productivity tools to improve your productivity, sanity, efficiency and work-life balance.

Microsoft Outlook is probably the top productivity suite for professionals—and yet only 10% are using it to its full capability. This course demonstrates how to utilize all five of Outlook’s tools—E-Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Notes and Tasks—to better manage your time, staff and projects and achieve higher-levels of focus, relationship-building and productivity. With tips and usage demonstrations, this course will help you become less reactive, stressed out and distracted, and more proactive with:

  • Managing multiple projects and tasks
  • Maintaining “traction” when dealing with tasks and interruptions
  • Clearing the clutter for better focus
  • Keeping staff and team members on task
  • Tracking deliverables
  • Managing your calendar and contacts for better time and relationship management

The instructor also shares strategies on how to better manage, organize and prioritize e-mail for improved productivity and time management.

This course features all software demos in Microsoft Outlook 2010, although users of Outlook 2007 and 2003 will still greatly benefit from this program. Future versions of this Illumeo course will feature the new Outlook 2013 as well as Gmail and other Google productivity suite applications.

Part of a series taught by author and productivity expert Randy Dean. 

* This course shows screen shots which may have small text as they are demonstrating real-world use of software which has font sizing we cannot change for demonstration purposes. Therefore, your experience will be best on a full screen device such as a tablet, laptop of desktop computer. We recommend that you fully upsize the screen when you view these videos.

Learning Objectives
  • Enable getting the most out of Microsoft Outlook across all five key functions: E-Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes and Tasks
  • Integrate Outlook software into your time, project, people, and e-mail/info management systems
  • Utilize the Calendar in conjunction with the Task list to master the critical professional survival skill of effective prioritization
  • Demonstrate a very simple rule for managing E-Mail to reduce distractions, increase speed and prioritize messages and tasks.
  • Demonstrate how to use embedded E-Mail functions to automate common activities and messages
  • Utilize the Notes function to help clear your desk and mind by creating several highly useful lists for organizing random clutter
  • Enhance Contact information for better relationships and communications.
  • Manage projects and people through more effective use of Calendar and Task lists
Last updated/reviewed: March 4, 2024
187 Reviews (575 ratings)

Reviews

5
Member's Profile
Randy Dean does a great job of presenting time management with a clear, concise delivery in a motivating tone. I love his ideas and will surely put them to work immediately. Would love to see a part two in this course which would expand on the capabilities of each of the functional areas of Outlook to integrate with other Office applications, be customized to perform team/organizational high-volume/complex tasks (like his note on Email signatures (timesaver!) (my example you can customize task forms to have tasks come in a defined way (IT ticketing, Journal Requests, etc.), add "email rules" topic, discuss topics in general you could pitch to your organization to discuss such as team emails, team tasks, etc. Great start and going to keep the energy going here! -Rahman

5
Anonymous Author
Information presented will be very useful! It was presented in an easy to follow format. I learned several short-cuts to convert emails to tasks to calendar items. The tips provided relative to using the Notes section in Outlook will also be very helpful There is no doubt that I will be able to use the information provided in this course to better manage my time and and track my tasks. After taking this course, I am definitely going to follow it up with his course on Email management.

5
Member's Profile
Love Randy Dean's enthusiastic style of presenting outlook; kept me engaged throughout the session despite being hungry as I skipped breakfast to watch this XD. It's not easy to keep me engaged when I am hungry and Mr Dean's course here kept me focused. Learned a lot about how I could creatively better manage my work flow thanks to this simple course.

2
Member's Profile
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5
Member's Profile
Absolutely wonderful course. I am going to take the deep dive on email. The activities button in contacts was worth the entire 1.5 hours. Wish he would of started with the views functionality. Still get confused on how to work this function and don't feel confident I have the most effective view on all of my screens.

Anonymous Author
This provides a lot of information where you can maximize the features of your outlook but it takes practice for it to be useful to you. The instructor provides an estimated time on how long you can do each task but for people who do not normally use these features in Outlook, it seems it will take longer.

4
Anonymous Author
I thought it was a good program. I was trying to follow along but didn't have the same version of Outlook so it was difficult. I guess the date of the material should have clued me in but it might be useful to others if you put the Outlook version from which you're demonstrating in the course material.

5
Anonymous Author
Absolutely, loved taking this course. I thought I knew quite a bit about outlook, however this course taught me so much useful information that I will start using immediately. Definitely looking forward to taking "Taming the Email Beast" for outlook and Gmail.

5
Anonymous Author
Was surprised on all the functions I can use Outlook for instead of just emails. Would like the instructor to slow down some especially when moving from one area to another, like "forward" to "activities", was hard to keep up. Otherwise, I enjoyed the class.

3
Anonymous Author
It was a good overview of the functionality of Outlook. But the size of the webinar window made the screen shots very hard to read. The small screen shots along with the speed at which the material presented made it hard to follow along.

4
Member's Profile
The course had a lot of good information, although a significant amount was more of a refresher than new content. However, the concepts on integrating the functionality of Outlook into a more cohesive time management process was helpful.

4
Member's Profile
Even though the course was created three and a half years ago, it still had some useful tips. Primarily: Dragging e-mail to Tasks, Contacts, Calendar to create new item; use of Tasks; Highlight and drag info when creating new Contact.

5
Anonymous Author
Very informative. This is the second course I've taken from Randy and he is just superb. He is the subject matter expert, keeps the course fun and covered practical tips that I can't wait to use with Outlook. Highly recommended.

4
Member's Profile
Very good review of Outlook and various shortcuts for creating tasks, calendar items and improving productivity. Also contains practical suggestions for implementing David Allen's Getting Things Done Methodology using Outlook

5
Anonymous Author
Thorough description of all features of 5 main Outlook functions and how they inter relate and bring efficiency to your day's activities. Provides good tips from his personal use. Can easily start using info in this training.

5
Member's Profile
Excellent! Some great content - how have I used outlook for so long and not known this stuff. I also liked the swift paced presentation. Great job. I've been using tasks for about 6 months - but this is a whole new level!!!

5
Member's Profile
great overview. This area can be extremely valuable to have all employees trained in as it speeds up the process of scheduling projects, meetings and daily, weekly, monthly etc organization of your tasks and deliverables

5
Anonymous Author
Heavy on "time management" approach - but his philosophy is that we don't use the Outlook tools to do this because we don't know how to use them efficiently. Good tips, but you have to want to embrace this approach!

5
Member's Profile
such useful information. make me more efficient. I think all business professionals can learn greatly from this course. helps manage time and overall improve organization skills. A must have course for professionals.

5
Anonymous Author
This course was excellent. Randy is a very effective instructor and I am now very interested in taking his other time management courses. Everyone interested in time-saving tips in Outlook should take this course.

5
Anonymous Author
I learned a lot of things in this course that I was unaware of in Outlook. Very useful information and good instructor. I just wish some screens shots of what he was showing in Outlook were included in the slides.

4
Member's Profile
Very cool course. My only complaint (minor) is that this was recorded in 2014 and it is now April, 2020. MS Outlook has gone through many updates. However, most of the items were easy to find in Outlook 365.

5
Anonymous Author
Great course on Microsoft Outlook with tips that I can start using immediately and benefit from. The instructor was very engaging. He is truly passionate about this subject and very knowledgeable.

5
Anonymous Author
Randy presents topics in a highly energetic manner. The topics are excellent, the speed can leave someone behind if they are trying to follow along. Their are A LOT of good ideas in this course

4
Anonymous Author
This course offered helpful tips on prioritizing your daily responsibilities using your calendar and task list instead of relying only on your email in-box. All would benefit from this course.

5
Anonymous Author
I had not used all of the features available for Microsoft Outlook. This course did an exceptional job in presenting the feature and demonstrating how to use them effectively. Outstanding!

4
Anonymous Author
This is a great course! It provides a great overview of Outlook and how to use it to stay more organized. It would be great if it was updated for the most recent version of Outlook.

5
Anonymous Author
My email has always been out of control, so this course has given me the blueprints to improve it. One key item I will start to implement is to use the task feature instead of my inbox.

5
Anonymous Author
I enjoyed this course. I've used outlook my entire career, but I don't feel like I've used it well. There were some great tips on how to better organize and utilize this amazing tool.

5
Member's Profile
he brought up the activities button, which i can't find on my outlook. that is a great search idea....might want to include how to find it, if not there. otherwise great course!

5
Anonymous Author
Great course. Stated prerequisite requirements were appropriate and sufficient. Program materials were relevant and contributed to the achievement of the learning objectives.

5
Anonymous Author
Professor Dean, thank you so much for such a great refresher review on microsoft outlook. It was good to be reminded of how save time when using outlook and showed us some tips.

5
Member's Profile
This is a great course for someone who needs an overview of different tasks you can do in outlook. I plan to take the next so I can delve down deeper and become more efficient.

5
Member's Profile
This is one of the best courses I've taken in a long time. I just finished it and am already working to implement what I learned. I look forward to seeing his other offerings.

5
Anonymous Author
Great course! Good walkthrough examples with explanatory rationales. Definitely interested in his other courses. Essential for anyone interested in increasing productivity.

5
Member's Profile
Wonderful tips - I actually paused the webinar and put his tips into use. I configured categories and created signatures for my recurring emails. Highly recommend this course!

5
Member's Profile
Mr. Dean is a very good instructor. He is well organized and completely prepared. The information he shared is very useful, and could significantly improve my productivity.

5
Anonymous Author
Great course. This information will definitely help me use Outlook to its fullest. I didn’t know a lot of the features and this will be useful to help me better organize.

5
Member's Profile
Randy is a fun and engaging instructor. His tips and methodology can really be used to improve your daily efficiency. I've already stopped being a slave to the "bling"!

5
Member's Profile
Awesome tips for productivity...including showing how the effective usage of tasks in conjunction with categories makes task prioritization work to improve task delivery.

5
Member's Profile
This course explodes the tired habits and tendencies that characterize most Outlook users. You will come away ready to conquer Outlook, and as a result, your work.

4
Anonymous Author
Great tips, but putting some of them into practice may be inhibited by an organization's work culture, e.g. expectation that emails be responded to immediately

5
Anonymous Author
Well worth your time. Very practical use of Outlook to become more efficient managing information at work. Keep the imprortant things the important things.

5
Member's Profile
Great overview of Outlook factional tools. I love the instructor's personal stories and positive personality. Easy directions to follow and great content.

5
Anonymous Author
Great info for maximizing utilization of a common tool - I will deploy many of these strategies to better manage my calendar, contacts, tasks, and email.

4
Anonymous Author
Great course with tons of tips for improving the use of Outlook for better productivity. Functionality is shown step by step within the Outlook program.

4
Anonymous Author
Content great and topics in general are still relevant, but this is using the 2010 version and could be enhanced with new features and M365 integration.

5
Anonymous Author
Course material was simple to follow and great to do's! Instructor made the course easy to listen to, with some comedy that most people can understand.

5
Anonymous Author
This course was a game changer for me in how to utilize Outlook more effectively with tasks. Instructor was highly effective and brought great energy.

4
Member's Profile
Good tips. However, this does need to be updated because Activities (which was an exam question) was eliminated between Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013.

5
Anonymous Author
I liked the entire course. I was surprised at how many features there are I didn't use. I think anyone using Outlook could benefit from this course.

4
Member's Profile
The presentation was very helpful. I am definitely one of the people that only used Outlook for three areas. Will be able to expand on it now.

5
Member's Profile
Excellent course. Reorienting to Calendar, then Tasks, then e-mail makes a great deal of sense and I will be implementing it immediately.

4
Member's Profile
Instructor does not cover Outlook for Mac 2011. A lot of the settings do not apply for Mac. Other than that, I really enjoyed the course.

5
Anonymous Author
Really thought the way of following up on items owed to you was a very clever approach and I plan on trying this approach going forward.

5
Member's Profile
We will be converting to Outlook from Lotus Notes at work, this course taught me how to approach Outlook in the most efficient manner.

4
Anonymous Author
Good review of Outlook and its 5 primary tools. The viewing screen is too small to see clearly some of the items being pointed out.

5
Member's Profile
Great speaker that has developed these tips into a great presentation. I liked the examples and found the information very useful.

4
Anonymous Author
Good course it has some useful tips. My only issue is this course seems to be outdated (2014?) for the new functions of Outlook

5
Member's Profile
Most of us rely on Outlook in bot work and personal life and this is a great resource to get the most out of Outlook. Well done!

3
Member's Profile
A little dated. Needs to be updated to current outlook. some of the strategies go beyond outlook software and these are useful.

4
Anonymous Author
I really like how informative this course is. The way the speaker delivers the course outline is very concise and objective.

4
Anonymous Author
Use of Tasks was most helpful for me. I used them in the past, but can see how helpful they can be. Will start using again.

5
Anonymous Author
Fabulous course. Planning to implement Randy's techniques as soon as possible to deal with E-mail and better control my day!

5
Anonymous Author
I use outlook every day and this course has really blown my mind with the features I didn’t even realize were available.

5
Anonymous Author
Very interesting and dynamic. Tips are very good and useful. Will allow to optimize this tool that we are using every day.

5
Member's Profile
Great presenter, timely information. Clear directions for using many functions of Outlook that I am not currently using.

4
Anonymous Author
The content was good, but the course is a bit long. 1hr is ideal. Great content for new Outlook users and intermediate.

5
Member's Profile
I liked learning about how tasks can be assigned to be people and an email can be generated as part of that assignment.

4
Anonymous Author
was very informative, taught me the tools to manage my time and get my work done made me want to tame the email beast

5
Member's Profile
This is a great in-depth view of Outlook with a lot of useful tricks to help keep all life’s details under control.

5
Member's Profile
This webinar was full of great ideas for time management. Even just implementing a few should save me lots of time.

5
Member's Profile
excellent work and important subject matter. thanks for showing what few of us explore in our daily working hours.

5
Member's Profile
I will start utilizing Outlook in a new way. Very useful guidance to stay on top of things and accomplish more.

5
Member's Profile
I enjoyed the course and learned a lot from it I do wish I could see my final exam score after I have taken it

4
Member's Profile
Didn't know you could create task and calendar entries via drag and drop - a simple thing that is quite useful.

5
Member's Profile
Great course. Lots of tips and tricks I have not used before. I will be looking for other Randy Dean courses.

4
Anonymous Author
Good course to learn the best way to handle email and related tasks to keep emails in your inbox to a minimum.

4
Member's Profile
Review of Tasks was very helpful - will begin incorporating this tool into my daily and weekly recurring work.

4
Member's Profile
Excellent suggestions. I would like this course updated to the latest version of Outlook. It is from 2014.

5
Member's Profile
Excellent material. Really great course. Outlook certainly has more to offer than I realized or was using.

5
Member's Profile
I have already started implementing some of these tips as I go through the class! Has a positive impact!

4
Member's Profile
It is a very useful training although it was too fast. Overall excellent and practical training. Thanks

5
Member's Profile
Even as an advanced and long-time outlook user, I learned a lot of new tips and tricks. Great content!

4
Anonymous Author
Very informational on Outlook tools that are available that the complete functionality was not known!

Anonymous Author
Great tips, tricks and strategies for managing the Outlook email, task, calendar and contact tools.

4
Anonymous Author
Now outdated slightly with Newer outlook functionality. What about folders and navigation options.

5
Member's Profile
Great examples of improvements and practical tips to manage time and email distractions - thanks

5
Anonymous Author
The outlook session was great and very interesting to learn. I allow me to do further research.

4
Member's Profile
One of the best courses I've taken with Proformative. Will help you become much more organized.

5
Anonymous Author
almost bailed when I saw it was 2014, but info is still relevant today and I did learn from it!

5
Member's Profile
Great course wi lots of good suggestions that will free up crucial minutes throughout my day.

5
Member's Profile
Great course...going to go back again to make sure I picked up all the helpful tips and tricks

5
Member's Profile
Very helpful tips to utilize Outlook better - everyone could benefit from taking this course

5
Anonymous Author
This course was very well organized and informative. I enjoyed the course and learned a lot.

4
Anonymous Author
Helpful and informative but would take some getting use to to incorporate into everyday life.

5
Member's Profile
Practical suggestions to become more efficient and gain back that valuable commodity of time.

5
Anonymous Author
Awesome. Randy is a great instructor. He's quirky, to the point and overall entertaining.

4
Anonymous Author
This was an interesting course. It provided me some ideas of how to manage my own outlook.

5
Member's Profile
Learned how to easily use some Outlook functions to immediately improve daily efficiency

5
Member's Profile
Excellent course. I thought I knew a lot about outlook but I learned a few new tricks.

5
Anonymous Author
Very insightful course with a number of tips that can be put into practice right away.

5
Anonymous Author
A lot of useful ideas to help make one more productive and better manage time & email

5
Anonymous Author
A lot of information covered, but was well presented. Many helpful ideas presented.

5
Member's Profile
Excellent course; recommended for everyone from entry-level employees to executives.

5
Anonymous Author
recommend updating this course to at least 2020. Lots of information is out of date.

4
Anonymous Author
Very useful information; learned new organizing skills that are easy to implement.

4
Anonymous Author
Some very helpful suggestions for efficiently and strategically planning each day.

5
Anonymous Author
Excellent presentation. A lot of information and useful tips to get organized.

4
Member's Profile
This course gave me specific actionable information to make me more productive.

5
Anonymous Author
Wow! Didn't know Outlook had so many ways to use it. This course is excellent!

3
Member's Profile
Helpful but dated.

5
Member's Profile
Great course, but would be more helpful if it used a current version of Outlook

5
Member's Profile
Great information, I feel I will be more productive going forward. Great tips.

4
Anonymous Author
Great course to learn tricks to be more productive and efficient with outlook.

5
Anonymous Author
It was helpful to learn a few new tips on how to use Outlook more efficiently.

5
Anonymous Author
It is wonderful to learn so many important and handy functions of Outlook.

5
Anonymous Author
Great course, fast and informative and I can't wait to implement the ideas.

4
Anonymous Author
lots of tips even for someone who has been using Outlook for many years.

4
Anonymous Author
I REALLY need to be more mindful of how I use email - it rules my life!

5
Member's Profile
Great speaker and content. Kept me interactive with the presentation.

5
Anonymous Author
Drag and drop. Task features and categories that interact with emails.

3
Member's Profile
Too much repetition and not enough instruction on how outlook works.

5
Member's Profile
Once again very good. Would be good to get the equivalent in Google.

4
Anonymous Author
Would have been beneficial to have screenshots of outlook activities

5
Member's Profile
I learned a lot of useful tips for Outlook that I wasn't aware of.

3
Anonymous Author
ok but everybody has his own way to organize things in outlook etc

5
Anonymous Author
The instructor was very knowledgeable and also a good presenter.

5
Member's Profile
Good course and ideas for staying more organized and effective..

5
Member's Profile
This course make me understood my understanding level of outlook.

4
Anonymous Author
Shared very good tips to help manage emails, calendar, and tasks.

5
Member's Profile
Informative, I especially liked the information on Outlook Tasks.

4
Anonymous Author
Found this course very useful and learnt a few tips and tricks.

4
Anonymous Author
Course was very good and I found it to be somewhat entertaining

5
Member's Profile
Interesting structure presented, in addition to numerous "tips"

5
Anonymous Author
Was a good course but would recommend Taming Outlook over it.

4
Anonymous Author
Fantastic tips. I cannot wait to implement for the New Year.

4
Anonymous Author
Powerful stuff that I will be able to implement immediately.

4
Member's Profile
Provided Many great ways to allow me to better manage my day

5
Member's Profile
A very quick and focused use of outlook as a strategic tool.

4
Member's Profile
Nice to learn the potential of outlook in so many new ways.

3
Anonymous Author
Outlook for Office 365 would have been more helpful for me.

5
Anonymous Author
Great deal of information was covered. will be very useful

5
Anonymous Author
Great course, many valuable tips. I recomnde the course.

5
Member's Profile
Very helpful, easy to follow, and immediately applicable.

5
Anonymous Author
Very helpful class for new beginners to Outlook. Thanks!

5
Anonymous Author
Enjoyed this course as it has so many handy tips to use

3
Member's Profile
Very dated from 2014. Should update for Microsoft 365.

3
Member's Profile
While the information is good, it is extremely dated.

5
Member's Profile
Great information about task and tips, very valuable

5
Anonymous Author
Great course. A lot of helpful information and tips

5
Anonymous Author
I like the review. You need to do this with gmail.

4
Anonymous Author
Very practical tips that everyone can benefit from

5
Member's Profile
I can't wait to put these times to practical use.

5
Member's Profile
Really helpful tips to help boost my productivity.

5
Anonymous Author
Great Training. Objective Completed . Recommended.

5
Member's Profile
Very useful for organization and time management.

4
Member's Profile
would like to see this updated for Outlook 2013

5
Member's Profile
Some great tips for even an experienced user.

5
Member's Profile
Nice information. Learned usefull techniques.

4
Member's Profile
Fast paced! But I learned a few tricks.

5
Anonymous Author
Excellent tips, and the pace is perfect.

5
Member's Profile
Great ideas on utilizing Outlook!

5
Member's Profile
Great tips and features/ideas.

4
Member's Profile
Great tips especially with tasks

5
Member's Profile
Another great class from Randy!

4
Member's Profile
Some great take aways for me.

5
Member's Profile
Very interesting and helpful!

Member's Profile
Useful course with good tips.

5
Member's Profile
Very useful course. Thanks!

5
Member's Profile
Loved the instructor!

4
Member's Profile
Some interesting tips

5
Anonymous Author
Jampacked with info.

5
Anonymous Author
Easy and great tips

5
Member's Profile
Tips are practical

4
Member's Profile
Useful new tips

4
Member's Profile
Good overview

5
Member's Profile
Very helpful!

Member's Profile
Very helpful

5
Member's Profile
Very helpful

5
Anonymous Author
Very useful.

5
Member's Profile
Great tips!

5
Member's Profile
Good Course

5
Member's Profile
Excellent!

5
Member's Profile
Helpful

4
Anonymous Author
Useful

3
Anonymous Author
Ok

Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational
  • A basic understanding and use of Microsoft Office/Outlook
  • It is strongly recommended, but not required, that you complete the related Taming the E-mail Beast Using MS Outlook program also posted on Illumeo.The combination of these two programs will lead to the best outcomes and a much deeper skill set for most MS Outlook users.
Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Outlook Optimization
  Calendar First!19:22
  Project and Task Management Using Outlook18:56
  Managing Projects, Tasks, and Roles20:49
Email Strategies and Conclusion
  Three Key Email Strategies22:36
Continuous Play
  Get the Most from Microsoft Outlook to Manage your Time, Projects, People and Ideas1:28:18
SUPPORTING MATERIALS
  Slides: Optimizing Your Outlook for Senior ManagersPDF
  Optimizing Your Outlook for Senior Managers Glossary/IndexPDF
REVIEW & TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam