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Schedule Programs

Programs such as GroupWise, Schedule+, Outlook, and others are available to assist with the job of keeping track of your life.  These programs work as electronic secretaries in that they track daily schedules, appointments, and create TO DO lists.  Get organized by taking a look at one of these programs

Features

Ø     Address books where frequently used numbers and addresses can be stored.  If you have access to phone line, the computer can dial for you.

Ø     If attached to a network, the computer can check co-workers calendars to schedule meetings and avoid conflicts.  Some e-mail program will have to be running such as Microsoft Exchange.

Ø     Memos and attachments can be sent over e-mail.

Ø     Keep track of your schedule for easy access.  The computer can remind you of meeting times at a pre-set time determined by you (15 minutes before appointment).

Many of these programs require a logon because of the sensitivity of schedules.  Who should have access to your schedule and notes.

 Calendar

This is a PIM or Personal Information Management applications.  This is a time management device.  If takes the place of or is a supplement to those Daily Planners that everyone carries from place to place.

 Office Quick Access Bar   

Menu Bar                TitleBar                             

Tool Bar 

Date Navigator

Choices 

List (TO DO)     

Appointment Book

These programs usually come with an appointment book, event scheduler, place to list contacts, TO DO lists, planner, and sometimes address books, journals, and note taking areas.  To use these features:

Ø     Appointment Book keeps track of daily and weekly appointments and sets up reminders.  You can even set alarms that beep to remind you of the appointment.

Ø     To Do lists organize your daily and weekly tasks.  Help to prioritize things that you have to track.

Ø     Contacts allows you to enter lists of names, addresses and phone numbers you use most.

Ø     Planner allows you to organize and schedule meetings.

Ø     Events allows you to keep track of special events like birthdays, anniversaries, conferences.

Microsoft Outlook is the program being used for screen views.  This allows you to enter recurring events, annual events, appointments that reoccur and these will automatically appear on your calendar.  This screen view shows the holidays that are automatically inserted into you calendar.

The calendar is easiest to enter information in the daily format.  In this format you can enter your appointments easily.  There are several areas to use as you enter information.

To select the day for the appointment use the calendar area.  The default is the current date.  Highlight the date that you want to make the entry.

The Appointment area allows entry of the meeting at the appropriate time.

Double-click any time slot to open the Appointment dialog box.

The task box allows you to enter items that you need to accomplish for the indicated date that you are currently working on.  The task area changes as you change dates on the form.

  The appointment dialog box allows you to enter all the details of the appointment as well as notes to yourself concerning the task.

These programs allow you to view various types of calendar—day, week, or month.  All of these options will also print so that you can keep printed copies of your schedule in your planner.  These programs will also print in a variety of sizes so you can still keep that day timer that you are use to with computer generated pages.

Other Features of Schedule Programs

The To Do Lists.  This present on the daily view of the calendar.  To get the full page view click on the tasks button and you get a full view of the list.  It can be by day, week, month, or completed tasks.

Task Grid 

As you enter tasks, you can associate them to specific dates.  Schedule programs will organize tasks into columns that represent priority, end dates, duration and more.  These categories allow you to group tasks and projects.

Ø     You can turn the gridlines on or off from the Tools menu, Options, Display

Ø     You can change column width by clicking the border and dragging to new size

Ø     You can change the order by dragging and dropping to a new location

Reading the To Do (Task) List

Ø     Completed tasks appear different.  Many schedule programs draw a line though them or place a check mark in the completed column

Ø     Many programs mark items that are past their date with some overdue indicator.

Ø     Note that in daily view, tasks not completed the previous day have be carried over to the current date.

Ø     You can sort your lists or group them.  You can hide or display tasks as desired.

The task dialog box is another way to enter tasks.  This allows you to add more details to your task.

You identify the task, due date, priority, status, reminders and person responsible.

Address Book of Contacts

Schedule programs allow you to keep track of important and frequently used addresses.

Simply select the area to enter the data and record your address information.

Schedule programs can also help with meeting plans if on a network

The meeting planner allows you to list attendees and tentative date and time.  The computer will check the various calendars and report back with conflicts or will resolve them if you give it the ability to do so.  The computer can make all the adjustments necessary to schedule a meeting of many different individuals.

Sorting your schedule information

There are several ways to sort .

All of the data which can be sorted will have a sort option in either the Tools or View menus.  Microsoft products place the sort function in the View menu.  GroupWise places the sort function in the Tools menu.  Other functions that can be performed such as filter, group will also be found in the View menu for Microsoft products.

Remember Schedule programs are a method of organizing your life.  The busier you become the more you need some help in getting organized.  If you can’t afford a secretary, this electronic secretary is the next best thing.