Simple feature that I think would be incerdibly valuable in Outlook: let a
person specify how many hours they need each day to perform miscellaneous
tasks, and manage their free/busy status with this in mind.

Apart from my many scheduled meetings, I need (say) three hours per day of
non-meeting time in order to get my work done. A key point though, is that I
don't care which three hours it is; I just need three hours. I'd like to
configure Outlook to know I want three hours kept free, and then when someone
tries to schedule a meeting with me that would drop me below my desired three
hours of unscheduled time, I'd like Outlook to show me as busy, both to the
meeting organizer and myself.

The alternative approach of blocking a few hours in each day is pretty
flawed: if I block (say) 2pm - 5pm every day, that incorrectly tells people
I'm unavailable during those hours, and if someone can only meet with me
during those hours, then we fail to connect, even if my who morning is open,
and I could therefore easily do my miscellaneous tasks then. However, under
my suggestion of essentially an automatically floating three hours of blocked
time, Outlook would let a 3pm meeting get scheduled, as long as it saw I had
three hours still free somewhere else in the day.

For miscellanous tasks that a person does by themself, I think it's much
more normal and natural for a person to think in terms of "I need X hours a
day for miscellaneous tasks" rather than "I must do my miscellaneous tasks
between the hours of 2pm and 5pm". Of course if there are miscellaneous
tasks that really need to happen at a certain time (such as a Los Angeles
person calling their London office during the few hours when business hours
overlap), then normal Outlook appointments work just fine for that.

----------------
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http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm....calendari ng

So, in essence, you want a crystal ball included with Outlook? I am sure
many people want the same thing but find other methods for allocating their
time during the work day. Putting it on Outlook will not relieve you of the
decision as to what is important during your day. Until Outlook IS a
crystal ball, the onus is on the person using the program to decide what is
important and how to allocate their time.

--�
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, AndyM asked:

| Simple feature that I think would be incerdibly valuable in Outlook:
| let a person specify how many hours they need each day to perform
| miscellaneous tasks, and manage their free/busy status with this in
| mind.
|
| Apart from my many scheduled meetings, I need (say) three hours per
| day of non-meeting time in order to get my work done. A key point
| though, is that I don't care which three hours it is; I just need
| three hours. I'd like to configure Outlook to know I want three
| hours kept free, and then when someone tries to schedule a meeting
| with me that would drop me below my desired three hours of
| unscheduled time, I'd like Outlook to show me as busy, both to the
| meeting organizer and myself.
|
| The alternative approach of blocking a few hours in each day is pretty
| flawed: if I block (say) 2pm - 5pm every day, that incorrectly tells
| people I'm unavailable during those hours, and if someone can only
| meet with me during those hours, then we fail to connect, even if my
| who morning is open, and I could therefore easily do my miscellaneous
| tasks then. However, under my suggestion of essentially an
| automatically floating three hours of blocked time, Outlook would let
| a 3pm meeting get scheduled, as long as it saw I had three hours
| still free somewhere else in the day.
|
| For miscellanous tasks that a person does by themself, I think it's
| much more normal and natural for a person to think in terms of "I
| need X hours a day for miscellaneous tasks" rather than "I must do my
| miscellaneous tasks between the hours of 2pm and 5pm". Of course if
| there are miscellaneous tasks that really need to happen at a certain
| time (such as a Los Angeles person calling their London office during
| the few hours when business hours overlap), then normal Outlook
| appointments work just fine for that.
|
| ----------------
| This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
| suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click
| the "I Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the
| button, follow this link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft
| Web-based Newsreader and then click "I Agree" in the message pane.
|
|
http://www.microsoft.com/office/comm....calendari ng