This One Tool Saves Me Time and Sanity. It’s So Easy!
Why focus blocking in Outlook should be your daily time management tool.
I burned out at work because I struggled to understand how much work I was trying to accomplish in a week. As a people-pleaser, I said yes to everything and then I tried management tools to help me track it all, but I struggled to visualize it in a way that helped me see how overloaded I was.
If you struggle to complete your tasks and feel overwhelmed or find yourself logging more hours than is healthy, you should start using one tool in Outlook: Focus time. Microsoft Outlook has a tool called Focus. You can find it in the calendar tab. Here’s what it does: focus time blocks incoming alerts and notifications and will set your status to “do not disturb” in Teams. Click an area in your calendar, then click the Focus button in the top ribbon and it will create a new meeting with the title Focus. Set your time like you would any other calendar item and Outlook will do the rest when that appointment time comes.
Since incorporating Focus into my routine, I am better at scheduling my work and determining howke before I can add new projects, long it will ta and I have reduced my stress and overload.
Here’s how I use it to manage my work
When I have a task that needs my uninterrupted attention, I use the Focus appointment and title it with the task I am doing, like this: Focus: Editing my article. I set a time for the focus task based on how long I think it will take, defaulting to one hour, sometimes 30 minutes. I will set focused appointments for the week based on the work I need to accomplish.
Now, here’s where I maximize my productivity. I set my focus times in the times of the day where I am most alert and engaged in work. We all have our prime times where you are in your best headspace. It’s not all day long; we are not robots. For me, I tend to set them between 9:30 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., depending on the day and what else I have scheduled.
I also set aside specific days for this work. As a hybrid worker. I am in the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and tend to schedule meetings with others during these days so I can collaborate in person. When working from home, Thursdays and Fridays tend to be my best days for heads-down focused work, so that’s when I tend to set my focus blocks.
Benefits beyond my own productivity
What has been great about blocking times on my Outlook calendar is that my team can see my appointments and since I labeled to focus time with the task I plan to work on, my team knows when I have scheduled that work and they know when they should expect an update from me. It also makes it easy for my boss to check in as well in case they get asked about a project I am working on. It provides transparency for everyone I work with.
Since I have started putting my tasks into focus appointments in Outlook, my stress has decreased and I am able to schedule out my work and not feel overburdened.
Don’t forget your self-care time, too
If you are like me, getting time for yourself into the day is a struggle – especially when kids are involved. A great way to hold yourself accountable is to set it on a calendar and commit to doing it when that notification reminder pops up. During the work day, I include break times when I get up from my desk and take a short walk. If it is a work-from-home day, I will set a ten-minute timer and lay down or settle into my recliner, close my eyes, and be silent and still. Both offer opportunities to refresh your brain and set it up for afternoon productivity.
