I’ve recently started working for an organisation that uses Microsoft for its suite of office apps. Now, do not get me wrong, I think that in a lot of ways, Microsoft Office is still the gold standard for all of this kind of stuff. It’s nearest rivals would be Apples suite including Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iCloud and Apple Calendar etc and of course Google with Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive etc. To be honest, each of these different suites of apps has advantages and disadvantages and using the whole suite together can be powerful, whichever you choose. But, I do have an issue with Outlook and so here is the problem with Microsoft Outlook.
For now, I am only really writing about the things which is the main issue from my point of view. I am sure there are others. I could write a lengthy piece on the acquisition of Sunrise and Wunderlist. How these fine applications were stripped for their parts and then shut down. But I won’t.
The Problem
Microsoft Outlook tries to do too many things in one application. In doing this, it combines tools designed to keep you focussed and puts them in the same place as a tool which can very easily be a distraction factory.
Your calendar should DIRECT your focus
In an ideal world, my calendar would be the driver of my day. I could, and probably will, write a lot more about why this is the case. My calendar is the one application that tells me where I need to be when. It tells me what I need to be doing when. It is the only app that doesn’t lie in this sense. You can put 100 tasks on your to do list for the day but you will never do them all. Your calendar only allows you to fill 24 hours. Using your calendar to plan your time gives you the best chance at crafting an achievable day. Though you can of course allocate far less time to things than they need and lie to yourself that way!
As well as this, my calendar is an essential tool when it comes to planning my days and my weeks. I need to be able to look ahead and see what is coming up. My calendar show me what space there is in order to actually make decisions about what to do when.
Email can DISTRACT your focus
Email is a constant source of distraction. Or at least it can be. Often emails come in and if you see them, it is very hard to to just ignore them. The anxiety of the unknown is often too strong, especially if they have that red exclamation mark next to them. The old line is that if something will take less than 2 minutes, deal with it right away. That doesn’t work anymore. Most people in office work can get over 100 emails a day. The majority of them take just 2 minutes to respond to. That’s 3 hours. My point is that the best way to minimise this distraction is to get ahead of it. You need to control when and how you engage with your email in a planned and deliberate way. If you just react, your productivity will be holed beneath the water line.
The Gatekeeper
So, the problem with Microsoft Outlook. I cannot access my calendar without first opening my email. So, the tool that I most need to direct my focus has a gatekeeper. That gatekeeper is the tool that is most likely and most able to distract my focus. This is a problem. A big problem.
If I am using the Outlook Android app, by default when you open this, you go straight to you inbox. You have to have to select the calendar to see it. If I am using the Desktop version of Outlook on PC, again it defaults to your inbox. The only way to work around this is use the Web version, go to you calendar and bookmark that URL. So far, when installed as a PWA, it still defaults to the email inbox when I open it. You have to use your browser and the bookmarked link.
I apologise if this is a rant. It is not intended to be. I love the Outlook calendar, especially the new version. Actually, I love the Outlook email as well. I just feel that putting them together in one app, that is first and foremost an email application, is a problem and that is the problem with Microsoft Outlook.
In the version of outlook on my windows laptop, there is an option that lets you open to calendar, file -> options -> advanced -> outlook start and exit -> start outlook in this folder “Calendar”.
Of course it does still option outlook, but doesn’t take you straight to your inbox.
(I think you would probably despair at my organisational method which is much more inbox than calendar focussed)
Thanks – unfortunately that option isn’t there in New Outlook 🙁