Outlook Calendar Timesheet Entry

After years of struggling with timely timesheet entry, I finally found a time entry process that works for me.

(Hello all my former managers! Thanks for subscribing!)

Throughout the day, I enter my time as Outlook events, using a different Outlook Calendar for each customer. At the end of the week, I then transfer those entries into my actual timekeeping system.

My Outlook Calendar ends up looking something like this

Is this the most efficient way to enter time? Well, probably not.

But it does have some advantages:
1) My meetings are already on my Outlook calendar.
2) I’m in Outlook throughout the day, so the friction of switching applications is reduced.

Don’t let Perfect be the enemy of Good. Find a process/system that works for you.

Automatically Dismiss Reminders For Past Events

One issue I had with this system is that entering a past time-tracking event into my Outlook calendar, would trigger a reminder message. But I don’t want a reminder notification…the event entry itself is the reminder for my end of the week timekeeping process.

This is less than desirable. Fortunately, there’s a fix!

In Outlook, click File (top left) then goto Options (Options will be on the bottom left).
In Outlook Options, goto Advanced, and then select Automatically dismiss reminders for past calendar events.

Problem solved. No more retroactive reminder reminders😊