Use the phone company voicemail system for your land line? If yes, how many digits do you dial to retrieve your messages? If it's more than 3, consider programming the speed dial to pick up your messages. Just like your cell phone, if you're familiar with that, you can make the dialing to get messages quick and nearly hands-free.

A tip I want to give you on using speed dial to pick up your messages is that you can put 1 sequence in to enter the access number (the number you dial to access the voicemail system) and your password. The trick here is to learn what the pause button is (often the * or P key) and enter a couple of those between the access number. Here's an example. Jay has to dial, 610-729-0220 to access the voicemail system at Verizon then he enters his password (7727 = Pass) followed by the # sign. So, he can program a speed dial on his phone to be 610-729-0220***7727#*1. That final *1 instructs his voicemail to play the first message.

When you're communicating via voice mail there is one thing that you can do to make the communication most effective – be complete and clear. For those of you saying, "No kidding," know that this message is prompted by recent messages I've received, voicemails, that just make me nuts on one hand and make me feel like I can be responsive on the other. The bad messages, "Hey, it's me, please give me a call," and "Hi Susan, its Terry, give me a call."

Here's what's missing:

• the full name of the person
  
• their phone number
• what I can do for them
• how urgently they need a call back
• and, if I don't know them, how they got my name

So here are some good messages:

"It's Steve Frank calling about the agreement you said you would send yesterday. I haven't received it. Please give me an update. Again, it's Steve Frank and my number is 416-622-6222 that's 416-622-6222."

"Hi Susan, its Bobby Allen, we met at the Keeping It Real event last week. I have an opportunity for you to write an article for our internal company newsletter. The deadline is in 2 weeks so I need to know if you're interested within the next day. You can reach me, Bobby Allen, at: 919-911-9111, to repeat, my number is 
919-911-9111. "

Have you received any 'remarkable' voicemail messages lately? We'd love to read about them so leave a comment below.

I met with Terry to assess his use of Outlook and offer suggestions to improve his use of it. We met in a conference room – presumably to project the screen so we didn't have to crowd around a smaller screen. After a while it became clear that we weren't in Terry's office because he has so many post-its on his monitor and desk that the clear slate of the conference room table was the environment he wanted to show me. Does this remind you of anyone?

A simple solution to all sorts of post-it clutter is to use the task list in Outlook. Studies show about 10% of us do use tasks in Outlook which gives 90% of users the chance to make a productivity leap by using the task list. Ah, I hear some of you saying, "Out of sight, out of mind. I need those reminders." The good news is that you can keep your task list right on your screen so it is always in sight. Additionally, you can set reminders on tasks so you don't have read, re-read, and continually re-read your post-its so you don't miss any.

Let's cover that step by step.

First is the creation of a task. The fastest way to do that is in Outlook type ctrl-shift-k. A new task window like the one below opens. (or click on File, New, Task). Complete the tasks information. In the sample you'll see a task of revamping a business card in the subject line. It's advisable to be complete and make the first 3 or 4 words the summary of the task because those are the words that show on your task list.

Step 2: Set up your task list to be open all the time.

In Outlook 2007 you can show it on the right side of every window (called the todo bar). To show it click on View, To-Do Bar and check Normal & Task List. In Outlook 2003 simply open your Task List in a new window. To open your Task List in a separate window, right click on the Task List Icon and select Open in New Window.

And finally, set reminders for things that are time-sensitive. A reminder pops on screen at the designated time – the perfrect sticky note replacement. For example, refer to the image above. There is a check in the reminder box and the date that this should be done. Another example could be to pick up your clothes at the cleaners. When you drop it off they tell you it will be ready in 4 days. Simply put a task with reminder 4 days in the future near the end of the day to remind you to pick up the dry cleaning on the way home.

Try it now and let us know how it works.