Magic 8 Ball Says: Outlook Good?
I’ve recently started an exciting new job, but one part I wasn’t so excited for was switching from Google Workplace to Microsoft 365, and especially from Gmail to Outlook. In Gmail, I relied heavily on labels, filters, the “multiple inbox” feature, and automatic threading to manage my emails and associated tasks. It turns out that Outlook has features similar to most of these, but they work a little differently and have different names. So after mourning my old Gmail setup, I started learning how to make Outlook work for me. I’m now optimistic that Outlook will work just as well for me as Gmail did, and if any of you are making the switch, maybe some of these tips will help.
First, labels. Outlook’s closest equivalent to these are “categories.” Outlook also has folders for messages, but these are different because a message can only be in one folder, while it can have many labels (Gmail) or categories (Outlook). Like labels, categories can be color-coded and named; unlike labels, they will not automatically be listed in the left-hand navigation sidebar, which was frustrating because I wanted to be able to easily view all the messages in a category. In the new version of Outlook, however, you have the ability to “favorite” categories so that they do show up in the navigation bar. (Classic Outlook is still available, but lacks this feature; many prefer it to New Outlook, though.) Right now I’m using two categories, “Waiting” and “In Progress,” which I use to clear items from my inbox when I’m waiting for a response or might need to refer back to the email, with an easy way to see all the emails in those lists and the ability to add them to more categories or put the email in a separate folder while maintaining easy access.
Next, filters. Outlook’s equivalent of Gmail’s filters are “rules.” In Gmail, I mostly used these to handle listservs and alerts, adding a listserv-specific label and having the messages skip the inbox but remain unread so I could just read them at my leisure. I haven’t explored Outlook rules too much yet, but once I have a couple more weeks under my belt in this position, I’ll have a better idea of what emails I’ll need to filter out. At first glance, Outlook rules appear to have a few more options than Gmail filters. (Update after exploring them some more: the New Outlook filters are a pale shadow of the Classic Outlook filters. Bah!)
Third, automatic threading. Outlook does have this, but it’s not turned on by default. You can turn it on in the View tab: In New Outlook, it’s in Conversations -> Group into conversations, and in Classic Outlook, there’s a checkbox in the View tab. It’s still clunkier than Gmail’s threaded view, but my Outlook experience became much less overwhelming after I found this view setting.
Finally, multiple inboxes. This is a Gmail-specific feature that I used to display my messages with “Waiting” and “In Progress” labels below my actual inbox on my Gmail home page, to be able to check those lists at a glance. In Gmail, you can turn it on under Settings -> Inbox -> Inbox type. I’ve found no equivalent in Outlook, but for me, this is nice to have but not essential.
I’m also considering what I might need (or not need) in my email setup and general productivity systems in this new job. There’s no point reproducing my Gmail setup if it’s not going to work with my new workflow. While I’m still figuring out what exactly that workflow will be, I’m a devotee of the Getting Things Done method, so I’m starting out with just the essentials for keeping my email inbox a place for incoming emails, not for tracking tasks or storing reference material. As my needs become more apparent, I’ll flesh out the system. (For task tracking, I tried out Microsoft To Do because it’s closely integrated with Outlook, but I’m sticking with Todoist for now. That’s for another post, though!)
