Given that the subject of personal productivity has both its theoretical and practical aspects, so does this book. It consists roughly of one part vision and three parts application. The vision stuff in the first part gives you ideas on the current thinking of what it takes to achieve peak productivity as well as ideas on how to assess your own particular situation. The practical, Outlook-related information in the remainder of the book then gives you the lowdown on how to mold this program to fit your work/life situation so you can actually realize your productivity vision.

This doesn't mean, however, that the book is meant to be read from beginning to end or from cover to cover. Although the chapters are organized in a logical order (progressing from the more theoretical aspects of personal productivity to the downright practical with Outlook), each topic covered in a chapter is really meant to stand pretty much on its own. It's really up to you to figure out where you need to go and what information will be of most help.

This book is like a reference in which you start out by looking up the topic you need information about (either in the Table of Contents or the Index), and then you refer directly to the section of interest. I explain most topics conversationally (as though you were in my office). Sometimes, however, my regiment-commander mentality takes over, and I list the steps you need to take to accomplish a particular task in a particular section.

I do recommend you start, at the very least, by perusing the theoretical, assessment-type stuff in the chapters in Part I, even if you think you know exactly where you're coming from and are quite sure where you want and need to go. I say this because framing (or reframing) the problem and possible solutions are often tremendous motivators that can really help get you going and keep you going. This type of fundamental assessment can also prevent you from wasting time on exploring practical, Outlook techniques in chapters in the later parts that really don't address your most pressing and immediate productivity snafus and conundrums.

The only assumptions I make about you, dear reader (other than you're highly motivated to bring your professional and personal life into better balance), are that you currently use either Microsoft Outlook 2003 or, the latest, Outlook 2007 for taking care of your e-mail and that your computer is running some version of the Windows operating system. And, as a result, you run Outlook every day (whether or not your computer automatically launches the program at its startup) so that Outlook is readily available to you whenever you're at the computer.

As for your experience and skill level with Outlook, it really doesn't matter whether or not you've ever strayed any further than its Inbox or that you have loads of experience using its more advanced features and other modules. The important thing here is that you maintain a willingness to explore aspects of this program that are new to you and to adopt a new perspective towards those aspects with which you're already familiar.

Beyond that, you simply need to be open to developing habits that support and enhance your overall personal productivity. Remember that there are no gold stars for knowing more about Outlook and its hundreds of features. In fact, the only brownie points given are for knowing how to use those Outlook features that actually put you in greater control of your work and life.

This book is organized in five parts. Each part contains two or more chapters with related content. Each chapter is further divided into loosely related sections that cover the basics of the topic at hand. You should not, however, get too hung up about following along with the structure of the book; ultimately, it doesn't matter at all if you find out how to manage your to-do list in the Tasks module before you find out how to do scheduling in the Calendar. The important thing is that you find the information — and understand it when you find it — when you need to explore a new aspect of personal productivity or use Outlook to achieve it.

In case you're interested, here's a synopsis of what you find in each part that follows.

Throughout the text, I give you keyboard shortcuts that you need to learn by heart in order attain top productivity. Most of these shortcuts are key combos that use the Ctrl in combination with other letters, although some use the Shift key as well. With these shortcuts, you need to hold down the Ctrl (and Shift key) as you type the letter.

When it comes to menu commands, this book uses command arrows to lead you from the initial menu, to any submenus, and finally to the command option you ultimately want. For example, if you need to open the File menu to get to the Open command, that instruction would look like this: Choose File

Finally, if you're really observant, you may notice a slight discrepancy between the capitalization of the names of dialog box options (such as headings, option buttons, and check boxes) as they appear in the book and how they actually appear in Outlook on your computer screen. I intentionally use the convention of capitalizing the initial letters of all the main words of a dialog box option to help you differentiate the name of the option from the rest of the text describing its use.

The following icons are strategically placed in the margins to point out stuff you may or may not want to read.

I have a couple of suggestions for where to go from here (after you get a chuckle from the great Rich Tennant cartoons). You may want to go directly to the Part of Tens to check out my top ten lists; in Chapter 16, you find a list for general productivity strategies, and Chapter 17 offers a list with a particular emphasis on Outlook productivity techniques. Otherwise, I suggest you start out by taking a look at the material in Chapter 1 and using its information and suggestions to start devising your very own plan for becoming as productive as you possibly can with Outlook so that you can immediately begin to bring your professional and personal lives into greater harmony.