Koala-T Assistant (MyKTA)

Sometimes life is a circus and everyone else is the Ringmaster. Don’t let that deter you from getting what you are after. Push through and enlist help whenever and wherever you can. Most people are more than willing to help, 1. if they can, and 2. if it costs them nothing more than a little bit of time and effort, without burden or expectation.

Over the past month I have been focusing on couple of my goals. At times, there are moments that seem to be effortless. At others, I feel stuck and frustrated. I feel like I have hit a wall and my progress has become stilted. It is in these moments that I must remember to forge ahead, think of alternate and different methods of getting to the next desired step of the process.

In getting a task completed, I must talk to various personnel in different state departments. Some people will have an attitude right out of the gate. Well, a less than helpful one anyway. I believe that there are many people who do not appreciate what they do or do not see the value in what they do. Instead of being helpful, they go to lengths to make it difficult for the person on the receiving end to get what they are looking for. So it is my goal to get them on my side by letting them know that I appreciate everything they are doing to help me. They probably feel unappreciated, underpaid, overworked, and undervalued. Well, I appreciate and value what they are doing for me even if in the end I still need to seek out another resource to get the task completed. And, I will let them know that too by thanking them for their time and effort at the conclusion of our conversation.

When enlisting help or getting someone on your side, tell them what you are trying to do and why. Sometimes it brings out the cheerleader in them. It creates purpose instead of just doing the job. They now have a reason to help you succeed and who doesn’t like seeing someone achieve their goal. They get to be a part of your success. And, to be honest, we really can’t do it all on our own without the help of others doing what they can on their side to get to the finished result.

If they are not able to provide you with what you need, ask questions. Ask them where or who you can talk to get the information you need. Ask for suggestions or solutions. Ask for names and phone numbers of possible resources. If they have information, but need some time to collect or process it, follow up with them later. Let them know that you will be following up and when so they don’t feel like you are taking up their time when there is nothing else they can do on their end. They will let you know if they have done everything they can and a nice courtesy would be to thank them for their time and to let them know that you will not be contacting them until you have the information you need to provide to them.

You may feel like you are running around in circles. It is possible that you just might be. Forge on. Move on to another portion of your task and it is possible, with time, the information you are seeking will appear. Sometimes, things need a little bit of time to work themselves out and come together.  I call that,

Giving it time to marinate.

I have found that many things work in an ebb and flow kind of manner. Some things seem to just roll through and you find yourself speedily getting what you need done. Then there are the times when you are at a standstill or even lost in the process. Take those times to recharge, come up with creative solutions, ask for help, and muster up determination. Also, start your day out with a positive affirmation. Something like,

Today is a great day. I will get so much done and everything will come together perfectly for me.

Create a positive attitude in that if you do not get what you need at that instantaneous moment, there is a perfect time that it is supposed to be resolved that is to your advantage. Pushing harder on something that doesn’t give just elevates frustration and stress. Step away and take a look at the situation in a different perspective or angle. Just like a wall, you might need to dig a tunnel to go under it, or you may need to go around it, or find a way to climb over it. Many times our biggest hurdle is our own attitude.

You are the Ringmaster of your life. Don’t let others make you feel like you don’t have the controls. You get to make the decisions and that includes how you treat people along the way. Be gracious, helpful, and accommodating and they will do whatever they can on their end to help you get through the hoop.

Would you like to streamline and create processes for your routine emails? Here are a couple of tools in your Outlook you can use to create your emails in advance and send them without you even sitting in front of your computer.

Create Your Distribution List

If you haven’t already done so, this is accomplished by going into the Contacts section of your Outlook. Select New and click on Distribution List. You can either add email addresses with Select Members or Add New. You can enter in Notes the purpose of that distribution list, assign it a Category, as well as other nice little features. Give the distribution list a Name and then Save & Close.

Create your email message.

Sending a Message at a Specified Time

In Outlook 2007, once you have completed the content and addressed with your distribution list:

1. Go to your Options tab and select Delay Delivery.
2. In the Deliveries options portion of the form, check Do not deliver before: and indicate a date and time and Close.
3. Send.

You may want to edit your Outlook frequency for sending and receiving.

1. Select Tools and then Options.
2. Click on the Mail Setup tab and then click the Send/Receive button.
3. Check Schedule an automatic send/receive every and enter how many minutes. Every ten minutes would keep you pretty current with incoming and outgoing mail.

That’s the really simplified version without getting overly complex and time intensive, but very easy and gets the job done. However, you will need to make sure that you have Outlook open and are able to send and receive for this to work.

Please feel free to let me know if you find this helpful.  Also submit your suggestions or ideas on how you simplify your emailing process.  Everyone has a set of circumstances that brings into account different techniques. Would love to hear what yours are. Also, don’t forget to share with your colleague if this is the perfect information they may be looking for.

We understand the value of lists, but do we really use them to our best advantage? Is your life complicated? Lists can uncomplicated it and give it more structure. Is it uncomplicated? A list can give you direction in where you want to go in life. Is your life controlled externally, making you feel like your days are dictated by the urgencies of others or circumstances? Make a list.

There are lots of different kinds of lists:

• The To-Do List
• The Christmas List
• The Wish List
• The Shopping List
• The Goals List
• The Procedures List
• The Master List

What got me to thinking about lists were a couple of things:

1. During the week, I work my 8-hour shift, eat dinner, and go to the gym. Needless to say, my place blows up through the course of the week and I am left with lots of cleaning and organizing through the weekend.
2. Two things I need to make a priority to do each day is going to the gym and sending out resumes for promotional positions.

This would consist of a list for each day.

1. Create lists of goals.
2. Break those goals down into their respective tasks of what it takes to achieve them.
3. Incorporate a task from each important goal into the list for each respective day.

Doing something small each day removes it from being a large task later on.

Here would be an example of my Monday:

As you can see, from 7:00am to 5:00pm and the end of the day would be pretty consistent. If I workout 2 days on and 1 day off, that would give me Wednesdays to run an errand during that time, write on here, get in some reading time, or go out with friends or family. My weekends would have room to go to the lake, ride my motorcycle, go to a museum or gallery, have coffee with a friend, have a spa day, or do absolutely nothing. I will be accomplishing all the things that are important to reaching my goals without making me feel like I don’t get a day off to just relax. Those days are important too.

So start creating your lists.

Create a list for:

• Work
• Family
• Home
• Social
• Community
• Spiritual
• Health / Fitness
• Educational
• Fun

You will be amazed at the progress you make in only a couple of months, how much you will rediscover and nurture you, and how much more joy you will bring into your life by living more consciously. You will still have time for the spontaneous, probably more time by living your life with purpose and on purpose.

Zipping programs have their advantages and are really fast, easy, and simple to use. It will truly simplify your life if you find yourself transmitting multiple files to your contacts. Go to the end of this post for the really “quick and easy cheat” directions to zip and unzip.

What is an Archive or Zip File?

• Distribute files on the Internet: Only one Zip file transfer operation (download) is required to obtain all related files, and file transfer is quicker because the archived files are compressed.
• Send a group of related files to an associate: When you distribute the collection of files as an archive, you benefit from the file grouping and compression as well.
• Save disk space: If you have large files that are important but seldom used, such as large data files, simply compress these files into an archive and then unzip (or “extract”) them only when needed.

Program Tutorial

You can access the tutorial from the Menu, select Help, and then select Brief Tutorial.

Zipping Options.

• WinZip Classic: The powerful WinZip Classic interface is preferred if you have a general understanding of Windows and of Zip files. Most users will be quite comfortable with its Explorer-like interface once the basics of Zip files are understood.
• WinZip Wizard: The WinZip Wizard guides you through some of the most common operations involving Zip files. If you are new to Windows or unfamiliar with Zip files, you may wish to start with the Wizard and switch later to the more powerful Classic interface.

Zipping With Classic.

1. In the WinZip window, click the New toolbar button or choose New Archive from the File menu. The New Archive dialog will appear.
2. In the New Archive dialog, specify the location where you want to create the archive and type the name you want to use for your new archive, then click OK. The Add dialog will appear.
3. In the Add dialog, select the files that you want to add to your new archive and click Add.

Zipping With Wizard.

1. In the Select Activity panel, choose Create a new Zip file and click Next.
2. In the Choose Zip Name panel, type the name you want to use for your new Zip file and click Next. For example, if you are creating a Zip file that will contain some files related to yearly reports, you might type “1999 reports” as the name for your Zip file.
3. In the Select Files panel, click Add files to choose the files you want to add to the Zip file. Select the files you want to add and click OK.
4. Click Zip Now to create the new Zip file.

UnZipping With Classic.

1. In the WinZip window, click the New toolbar button or choose New Archive from the File menu. The New Archive dialog will appear.
2. In the New Archive dialog, specify the location where you want to create the archive and type the name you want to use for your new archive, then click OK. The Add dialog will appear.
3. In the Add dialog, select the files that you want to add to your new archive and click Add.

UnZipping With Wizard.

1. In the Select Activity panel, choose Unzip or install from an existing Zip file and click Next.
2. In the Select Zip File panel, click on the Zip file you want to work with and click Next. The Unzip panel will appear.
3. In the Unzip panel, click Unzip Now to unzip (extract) the files in the archive. The WinZip Wizard will open a Windows Explorer window showing the unzipped files.

Quick and Easy Cheat to ZIP.

This is the drag and drop method.

1. Execute WinZip.
2. Open your directory.
3. Select your documents (you can select more than one file by pressing the Alt key or the Ctrl key and clicking the left mouse button).
4. Drag your selections into the WinZip window.
5. It will ask you to provide various information. The most important, giving it a folder name and you can browse your directory folders for a location. The “Add to Archive” name field is already highlighted when the Add window automatically appears.  Provide the name and location here.
6. Click the Add to the right of that field.

Quick and Easy Cheat to UnZip.

This is the drag and drop method.

1. Double-click on the zip file you have been provided. This will open the zip folder with a full view of all the files within it.
2. View or Save
   2a.   View. Double-click on the document and it will execute in its appropriate program.
   2b.   Save. Select your documents (you can select more than one file by pressing the Alt key or the Ctrl key and clicking the left mouse button).
3. Drag your selections into the directory folder you would like the folders saved.

Today’s challenge.

A colleague needed to send out an email with over 20 attachments (I’m guessing because it was probably more). I came by her office to ask her for some personnel data that I needed for a department budget worksheet that I work on. So the timing was perfect. She puts the email together and has all the documents attached. She asks me if there is another way to attach so many documents. When there is a list of attachments, most people don’t realize they have to go through the scroll bar to see that there are more than the five or eight that are within view and actually miss the extent of information that has been provided.

The solution.

Zip them up. I brought up the Zip program, anything like WinZip will work, grabbed all the files she needed and attached that. It took less than five minutes and now all the recipients will receive the collection of files already foldered up in one place and viewable at a glance.

Tell me what suggestions you would have come up with for this challenge.

This is your life. Don’t let other people tell you who you are. We are all unique and each of us are set apart with our individual talents. We try to conform to the masses and end up feeling lost. We adjust our personalities to feel a part of and end up feeling misunderstood, different, or weird. To tell you the truth we all feel like that.

If we were meant to be cookie-cutter replicas, creation would have been designed that way. And how boring would that have been? When something bad happens to you, learn from it, take something away from it, and use the experience to become a better person and your choices in the future.

Get pissed off enough! Get passionate. Do something about it. If it truly is the system being unfair to a select demographic that you fall in, do something about it. Complaining about it doesn’t change it. Being passionate is the motivator, taking action makes changes happen. Let your passion come through and then do everything you can to change it. Be a force to be reckoned with.

Some Examples of Very Unique Individuals.

• Lady Gaga

• Isaac Mizrahi

• Mother Teresa

• Oprah Winfrey

• Rosa Parks

• Helen Keller

• Amelia Earhart

• Florence Nightingale

• Anne Frank

• Margaret Thatcher

• Sandra Day O’Connor

• Harriet Tubman

• Marie Curie

• Harriet Beecher Stowe

There are so many others, but I hope this list gets you to thinking about people who inspire you, that your story can make a difference. Did any of these people think they would be remembered in history? They are the hero in their own stories and took action to make happen what they believed in. They are unique and different and found their voice along the way in the process.

Every story is made up of a sequence, or series, of events. The way events are ordered to create your story is called the plot. The plot is all the action that takes place during your story. Every story has the following elements:

The Setting.

The setting of a story is the place and time of when a story takes place. Does your story take place at home, work, school? Is it in the past, present, or future?

The characters.

The characters are the people, animals, and other creatures in your story. There are generally two types of characters in a story: the hero and the villain. The hero is the main good character of the story. The hero is the character we are hoping will succeed, defeat the villain, and be happy. It’s safe to say that you get to be the hero as you are the star of your story. The villain is the bad character in the story. The villain tries to prevent the hero from succeeding or being happy. You can have more than one villain.

The Sequence.

Exposition. This is the beginning of your plot. It gives the background, history, and details of the characters past to understand the personalities and present lives of the individuals. It is important to understand these background details in order to understand the plot. The exposition is background information on the characters and setting that provides information about events and may explain what happened before your story begins.

Conflict.

The conflict is the problem faced by the characters. The hero wants something or is trying to help others. The villain is trying to stop the hero from succeeding. The conflict is the most important part of the story. This is the part that makes the story so interesting and exciting. The hero must confront the conflict and find resolution. The story does not end until the conflict is resolved. You can’t cheat the story and give up. Besides that is way to easy and your story goes on as is without resolution. To end the story, you must resolve the conflict. Have you identified the actual conflict of your story? It may not be what you think. It could be something quite simple or something much more complex.

Climax.

This is the part of the story when the conflict of the plot is resolved. This is usually the most exciting part of the story. The climax is sometimes referred to as the “turning point” where the plot of the story changes for better or for worse for the hero. This is where we want the hero, you, to defeat your villain in the climax.

Resolution.

The resolution is the end of your story. It occurs after the climax. This is where you learn what happens to the characters after the conflict is resolved.

You already have elements of your story. You have your setting, characters, and conflict. Detail your exposition; some history and background on your setting and your characters that bring clarification to the conflict you are facing. Then describe your conflict. What are you trying to accomplish and what is holding you back? What or who is your villain?

This part of your story has already been written.

Let me say this again… This is your life. You are the star in your own movie. How do you want it to turn out? Do you want people to remember you, after meeting you, that you were authentic and interesting? That you inspired them to remember what makes them special and unique?

Now take a few moments to write out the rest of your story. Really put yourself in it. Feel it, touch it, smell it, breath it. Be very descriptive in everything that you do as if you have already done it. Etch it in your mind the exact process of what you did to achieve your resolution. Exactly what steps did you take in the course of your climax? Detail what you saw, the people you met along the way, what you did. Feel it in your bones and write it down. Then read it aloud. If it does not resonate with you and inspire you to act on your story, edit it, rewrite it, bring it to life.

In everything you do, aspire to be the hero of your own story. I know you can do it and that inspires the rest of us.

You leave an impression and establish an image with every correspondence you make where you are not able to present yourself visually. This is your visual presentation of how you look. This is your pressed suit and tie, and crisp white shirt with polished shoes. Let people know that you are a professional and know what you are talking about. It also impresses upon people the respect you have for others and your compassion as well. The email says a lot about the person you are and the values that you hold. People like nothing better than dealing with people they like. Make it count.

Communication is everywhere and unavoidable. Really great communication is hard to find. If we can’t be in the same room with someone or know their specific location, contact is not that far away. I remember when there was a phone booth at every gas station and in every restaurant. It was like having access to a bathroom. You could always find one somewhere nearby. Today, I don’t think I can find a single phone booth anywhere. If you don’t have a cell phone, you have been living under a rock.

Today we have mobile phones, computers, faxes, On-Star, voice mail, e-mails, texting, and now we are “tweeting.” It’s amazing that we can communicate nearly everywhere, I don’t know about under water. I would have to ask an oceanographer. I don’t even keep a home phone, I just use my mobile phone as my primary communication for talking on the phone. I do have a desk phone. It pretty much just looks nice sitting on the desk, as most of my communication is done through email or face-to-face.

Electronic mail consists of e-mail and voice mail. I prefer email over voice mail, as it leaves record to both the sender and recipient of the exchange and the specifics of the message. Documentation of an interaction is sometimes preferred.

Here are some suggestions for using electronic mail effectively.

Choose email when information is better conveyed in writing.

Some information can be quite detailed when leaving several names, numbers, and addresses. The recipient will need to write the information down anyway and guess at the spelling, unless you are spelling everything out over the phone as well. Still, it reduces error in communication specific information that would be more difficult in retrieving over a voice message or phone call.

Use a phone when you need immediate feedback or need to follow-up.

Some communication requires tact and more of a personal touch. A computer screen can be a bit “cold” and impersonal. Some communication just shouldn’t be done by email, but rather communicating where the other person can hear the inflection in your voice, such as a call of condolence, or in person if possible. Determining the sensitivity of the information will help you select the right medium to use.

I would probably say that firing, laying someone off, or breaking up with someone should only be done in person. If extenuating circumstances dictate that this is not possible, first consider something like Skype, then, as a last resort, by email or correspondence.

Bad news, in general, is best done in person, unless your safety is a concern or the other person is unreachable for some reason. Take ownership and responsibility of the information you need to convey, giving the other person the respect and opportunity to respond. It’s a tough thing to do, but has the capacity to create respect and a level of compassion rather than coming across like a jerk or someone who is just looking for an easy way out.  Ultimately, negatively impacting your image and professionalism.

Write an eye-catching subject line.

Don’t forget the subject line. Also, make sure that you get to the point in your subject line so the recipient can determine its importance. Avoid using words that have the probability of landing in their “spam” folder, such as using the word “free.”

Preview the content and limit the information to one screen if possible.

Get to the point early and organize the information so that it is easy to scan through and retrieve the necessary information by using lists, bullet points, headings, etc. The first paragraph should be your summary and the rest is your supporting information.

Review.

Before hitting the send button, review. I cannot stress this enough. The impression you leave will be immediate, so don’t let typos and incorrect language detract from your message or your image. If it has some length to it, print it. For some reason, a printed document will expose some glaring errors that may have otherwise been dismissed or missed altogether. If it is information that reveals a high state of emotion, such as stress or anger, leave it for a day and go back to it once you have had time to get yourself back to center.

Signal your close and wrap it up.

State or restate what it is that you seek from the recipient what you would like to get from them from this email and a nice complimentary close with your name is always a classy and professional touch.

What important elements would you suggest to our readers that I missed? The more you write the easier it gets. Well, most of the time. Leave me a comment and let me know if this information helps to make it easier for you put your emails together. Let readers know what you find to be the most difficult aspect of writing and sending emails. Or just share your nightmare email elements that you have received, giving us an idea of what not to do.

What image message are you sending as a professional? I mentioned in a previous writing about “The Suit,” expressing the changes in the workplace that have become much more relaxed. I enjoyed reading the comments that it generated. Some were for and some against. Love diversity. Well, this post is about writing and style.

With technology (i.e., email, texting, IMing, tweeting, etc.), standard USPS mail and even FedEx is not the standard venue to send correspondence. No wonder USPS is having a fit. That’s evolution for you, keep up or die. I still believe that USPS has its value for the “personal touch.”

What’s interesting is that along with the casual attire that we sport to the office, our correspondence has become casual as well. Before all the emails and technology enhancements, letters were sent out on corporate letterheads, with all the elegant style of formatting with the date, salutation, body of the letter, closing, and signature. It was all very formal, courteous, and informative. Notice the difference in business emails that you get today. You will find spelling and grammatical errors, and some even come across kind of “cute” with smiley faces and quick closes with (maybe) a name at the end.

Sending correspondence doesn’t require the date because the date is stamped in your inbox. A name to the sender may not necessarily be required because you are sending it directly to the recipient’s address. And you may not need to necessarily close with a signature line because your email “sender” address is there as well. But didn’t we have this already with regular mail? All that information was included when you sent the letter located right on the envelope, including the date stamp of when the letter was sent.

Sending correspondence is still about the image you represent to the receiver. In most cases, like regular mail, the recipient may not know who you are and your letter signifies the impression you leave. That’s all you get. People respond to you by image of the representation that you send to them.

Sending correspondence can get relaxed as you get to know the person or the company that you deal with. However, because it is electronic, it has a much greater possibility of getting sent around. There are responses to more persons than yourself, forwarding, and finding that message somewhere on the internet. It does happen.

Here are some suggestions for sending business appropriate email:

1. Make sure that your email address is professional. Your personal email address can be mskitty@yahoo.com, but I wouldn’t suggest it for business (unless your business is called “Ms. Kitty”).

2. Don’t forget the “Subject” line. In the letter it was the “Re:” or “Regarding” line. With all the email that comes through and weeding out the spam, it’s nice to know what you are writing to me about. We know how important your email is, but it’s a courtesy and gives me an idea of the urgency.

3. Open with a gracious salutation. Even if it is their name (most people aren’t so formal as to require Ms./Mr. So-n-So).

4. Sign your email. It makes it personal (as personal as you can get without actually signing anyway). Also, under the signature, leave your contact information. It let’s them know where and what (by identifying your company’s name and your job title) the information is relevant to. Also, give them access to your number so they can contact you if they should have any questions without having to conduct a “search and destroy” mission to locate how to get in touch with you.

5. Avoid emoticons and acronyms. Emoticons are not appropriate for business, as well as acronyms such as “LOL.”

6. Pay attention to the tone of the message. If you are upset or angry, it is possible that the tone will come across in the message. Take some time to simmer down, or imagine your boss reading it, or have someone else read it before sending. There is always a way to get your message across without sounding rude or accusatory, especially if this is not a single incident and this situation just seems to be “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Maybe you are having a bad, hectic, or difficult day and your email comes across hurried, impatient, or frustrated. Pay attention to what the receiver is getting without the knowledge of what is going on with you.

7. Avoid ALL CAPS. In an email that is all your eye will go to and the tone has been set. You’ve already made an impression of the email without the receiver having even started reading it. If you want to emphasize something, use italics or bold. They get your message across better without looking like you are screaming at them.

8. Remember to spell check and grammar check. If you find your email to be somewhat lengthy, compose it in your word processing program such as Word.

This is pretty basic for correspondence, it does not cover content. Even you find yourself falling into the relaxed form of communication and don’t believe that it really makes that much of a difference, maybe you are right. I do hope that you will consider the whole idea of bringing up your communication style. Setting your style and image above the rest. The English language has all the elements to be stylized and elegant. Determine your style and you will see immediately the results in your responses.

I encourage you to send your comments and any suggestions that help us at being the best at what we do.

A Little About Outlook Rule Feature
Microsoft Outlook has a feature called “Create Rule.”  This is a feature that directs specific email to go into a folder you have designated to hold that particular content.  It is simple to set up, easy to use, and organizes your incoming mail into its designated location.  It’s like having an assistant who brings your mail to you in prearranged piles, e.g., bills, clients, vendors, magazines (or in the case of your email, newsletters), junk, etc.  You get the picture.  This allows you to get straight to the most important mail first without being distracted by other mail that is not pressing.

I take care of bills right at the beginning of the month, so during that time I will have all my “bills” mail in one place to go through at that specific moment.  Magazines, periodicals, and informational literature I can grab and go through when I have a chance.  First thing in the morning I can go through “client” mail to see if there is anything that needs to be taken care and requires a prompt response.  It allows me to prioritize and take care of the important stuff first.

Another advantage is it keeps your desk clean.  For many, the inbox has become the way station.  When retrieving mail, use the four-step screening process.  1. handle: determine to keep or discard; 2. delegate: is this something that someone else can do; 3. file: if it is not urgent, but something you will read later; and 4. expedite: this leaves information that requires your immediate attention and action.  Make a decision about each piece of mail as soon as you read it.  Determine if you should 1. throw it out; 2. review later; 3. delegate; or 4. respond, take action.

Be discriminating with your mail and make a decision to do something with it.  It is possible that the “review later” pile could grow and become unmanageable.  You don’t want to have to rehandle mail over and over.  Be decisive.

How to Create a Rule
In your inbox, right click on an incoming message that you would like to designate to a folder.  Select “Create Rule.”  You will be asked “When I get e-mail with all of the selected conditions.”  Then select the checkbox(es) with a click of your mouse.  You will then be asked to “Do the following.”  You have the choice of selecting “Display in the New Item Alert Window,” “Play a selected sound,” or “Move the item to folder.”  There are other options and criteria you can set in the Advanced Options, but I wouldn’t suggest making it too complicated.  You merely want to direct related email to a location that you can filter through at the moment of your choosing.

The goal is clear your inbox to mail that requires your action.  Once you have taken action on it and it is completed you can move that folder into its assigned location or delete.  Basically your inbox becomes more of your task list and this is where you can use Screening and Decision processes.

Good luck in your efforts to streamline your email and share any tips and ideas that you may have.

It would be nice to access all my internet mail into Outlook. I don’t always have access to my computer where email is directly to my Outlook and have acquired a couple of onlien emails over the years. I use both Google’s Gmail and Yahoo, as well as the internet social sites. So having done a little bit of research, this is what I came up with.

Gmail
I would like to thank http://www.howtogeek.com/ for the directions on how to do this one. It was really easy! I keep an RSS Feed (more on RSS Feeds in a later post) for http://www.lifehacker.com/ that gives me lot of tips and tricks where the How To Geek writes articles. The directions are easy to follow and I was able to have my Gmail up and running on my Outlook the first time out of the box without any complications. Follow this link to set up IMAP in Outlook 2007.

Yahoo
I use the Yahoo basic email and have not upgraded to Yahoo’s Mail Plus. So… since I don’t pay for Yahoo, one of the features that I’m unable to do is have my Outlook access my Yahoo accounts. I am sure there are other ways to get around it and hijack it through some complicated means, which I did make an attempt. I downloaded the tool and proceeded to following the directions to no avail.

I’ve got quite a bit of tech in me and can usually figure something out with time, but when I am given directions and even tools to download, I guess I’m just looking for it to work straight up. Many tips and tricks will get you from Point A to Point B without having to investigate further why it isn’t working after all. Besides, when you are given a process through one of these tips out there, ideally the complications have been identified and fixed before it gets to the reader or solutions are identified so the reader knows what to look for.

Anyway, I did locate a tool to at least keep me informed of email I have storing up in my various inboxes without having to go into each account. This tool is super rocking cool! This handy-dandy tool is by http://www.digsby.com/ that I received through my http://www.lifehacker.com/ RSS Feed. Here are some features I found helpful:

• I am able to view all my information and activities through this little gadget without having to have each account open in a web browser and logged in.
• I get pop-up balloons for the various activities that are going on in my Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn accounts.
• I can also carry on all my IMs in one window that tabs for each person or activity. No more multiple open windows for more than one IM or more than one account.
• I just happen to come across this, but there is also a log for your conversations that the program automatically stores. So if there is a conversation that has information that I need to refer to at a later date, I can access it through the log. Neat!
• A side window appears when you place your cursor over each account and let’s you know what information or activity is in there. This let’s me know if I need to go into the account for new information, which you can access by clicking on one of the links provided in the side window at the top of the activity entries and your web browser will activate and bring up to your account.  Easy-peasy.