What's the purpose of the Journal?

[SteveK]

I'm looking for a way a system to record my health, day by day. I'd like it
to be easily searchable so that I could see patterns. I notice that Outlook
has a Journal but I can't figure out how to use it and it seems that it
isn't the tool I need. It seems like it is set up for somebody to record
their minute by minute activity in a business environment. Can somebody
tell me how to use it for what I want, or if it's not the right tool, maybe
suggest something else.

Thanks,
SteveK

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

You can use the journal to record whatever you want.

You could also use a separate Calendar folder, adding an event for each day.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[TexasMirty]

The Outlook Journal can be configured to track time spent working on
documents -- such as Visio diagrams, Excel spreadsheets, Word
documents. It records when the document was opened and when closed. I
have found it somewhat useful -- in a limited way -- in helping me
record my work activity. I can check the journal to see when I opened a
document to start working on it.

Other than that, I have not found much use for it. Interested to hear
what others say.

 

[SteveK]

The Outlook Journal can be configured to track time spent working on
documents -- such as Visio diagrams, Excel spreadsheets, Word
documents. It records when the document was opened and when closed. I
have found it somewhat useful -- in a limited way -- in helping me
record my work activity. I can check the journal to see when I opened a
document to start working on it.

Other than that, I have not found much use for it. Interested to hear
what others say.

Yes. It doesn't seem like it would work for what I want to do. Yes as you
point out it seems to be able to keep track how long an application is open,
which is useless to me. I work with lots of applications open at the same
time and don't close them down as soon as I stop using them for a bit. Nor
do I care how long I've been working on a particualar app. Maybe somebody
uses it.

 

[SteveK]

I didn't know I could have multiple Calanders. I'll try that. Thanks,
Steve




You can use the journal to record whatever you want.

You could also use a separate Calendar folder, adding an event for each day.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Josh Einstein]

The Journal is a great place to store any kind of activity. While it's true
that Outlook has some built in functionality for tracking contact and
document activity automatically, you can easily create new journal entries
to store unstructured information. The great thing about the Journal is that
you can view the contents on a timeline or in a list.

With my add in, I promote the use of the Outlook Journal for storing
handwritten notes. Particularly for the timer feature. I wish Outlook
wouldn't bury it so deeply though. It's a great feature. Not everything is
an appointment, task, or message.