Customize Outlook Calendar Entries

Electronic calendars have great advantages over a paper calendar. Once an entry is created electronically it is very easy to change and manipulate that entry. Electronic calendars can also be useful to see calendars in multiple views such as daily, weekly or monthly. There are other features in Outlook that can help customize your calendar view, here are just a few:

• Use Labels and Color Code —When creating a new calendar entry, the label field allows the entry to be color coded. Outlook has pre-defined topics for each color but these can be altered. Go to Edit/ Label/ Edit Labels and you can change the topic/ category for each color item. It can be useful to color code travel, certain meetings, important events, etc.
• Use a Naming Convention in the Subject Line — It is best to name your calendar entries with a subject heading that will be useful to see quickly in the future. Consider creating a standard ‘naming structure’ in the subject field of new calendar entries. Use spaces, dashes, and underscores between nouns and adjectives that will provide further information about that meeting or appointment.
• Contact Association —All calendar entries can be associated with a contact in the Outlook Address Book. Once a calendar item is associated, it can be viewed in the Contact view under the ‘Activities’ tab for that particular person. This is useful if you forget the date/ time of an appointment but remember who the appointment is with. To associate an calendar item, open the calendar item and click on the tab/ field in the lower left hand corner called ‘Contacts’, it will allow you to choose from the Contact folders available, find the contact to associate and click OK.