A couple years ago, I was a Thunderbird fiend.  I reveled in open source because it was a bit edgy and allowed for quite a bit of customization.  But as time went on (and I increasingly discovered that the college I was attending ran on Microsoft), I disovered that Outlook was by far the best option for my needs.  It simply offers too much functionality.

Then, as I stepped out into the real world, emails and appointments and notes started flying.  I found that I was spending more time sending and receiving email than I would have liked.  So I decided to find a better way.  I discovered keyboard shortcuts!

Think of this as an ongoing, weekly series.  My hope is to give you 10 keyboard shortcuts with a week to master them.  Before you know it, you won’t even need a mouse!

10 keyboard shortcuts that will increase your productivity.

1. ALT + S  –  Send an email
2. CTRL + R  –  Reply to a message
3. CTRL + F  –  Forward a message
4. CTRL + M or F9   –  Check for new messages
5. Up Arrow   –  Go to previous message
6. Down Arrow   –  Go to next message
7. CTRL+SHIFT+N   –  Create a new message
8. CTRL + 1  –  Switch to mail
9. CTRL + 2  –  Switch to calendar
10. CTRL + 4  –  Switch to Tasks

I know this seems like a trivial thing, but take my advice - use keyboard shortcuts.  The less time you spend reaching for your mouse, the quicker you will finish up for the day and the sooner you will get home!