How to Use Sticky Notes With Outlook for Better Emails

Don't let emails eat your time. Here's how you can use sticky notes to make emails efficient.

Checking emails are part of most professionals' daily work routine. So, it pays to find ways to speed up this process and make it a little less stressful.

One way you can make your life easier is to use the Microsoft Sticky Notes on your Outlook email account. Let's find out how.

Get Started With Using Microsoft Sticky Notes on Outlook

According to Adobe's 2018 survey, Americans spend about 3.1 hours daily on emails. So, this is how you can use the built-in stick notes in Outlook to speed up your email correspondence.

As the name suggests, it's a note-taking app that you can use for various purposes. But before you can start taking notes on it, you’ll first need to set it up.

It's important to know that this only works for Windows 10 and 11. To begin:

1. Download the Sticky Notes app from the Microsoft store.
2. Sign in to the Sticky Notes app with your Microsoft account.
3. Sign in to your Outlook account.
4. Select the Notes option given in the menu on the left side.
5. Click on New Note to create one.
6. Double-click on the existing note to edit it.
7. Click on three dotes to delete or change the color of a particular note.

All the notes that you create here will be synced with the Sticky Notes app you downloaded from the Microsoft Store. Moreover, to access these notes on your mobile devices (whether Android or iPhone), you'll need to download Microsoft OneNote. Once you've set up the app, the notes will sync automatically there as well.

That way, you can access them whenever and wherever you like.

Once you have it set, you can start using it for different purposes. Some creative ways to use it are listed below.

Download: Sticky Notes for Windows (Free)

Download: Microsoft OneNote for Android | iOS (Free)

Take Notes to Save Time

The first and the simplest thing you can do with this application is to take notes with it for meetings, emails, essential things to include in an email, and more.

Additionally, if you often receive lengthy feedback in emails and usually go back and forth to check if you have addressed everything before submitting your project, Sticky Notes can save you that extra time and effort. Adding those comments in the form of bullet points in your Sticky Notes can be a great way to avoid this hassle.

Moreover, you can also use these notes to keep track of the feedback you receive to improve your work. For instance, it may not be possible for you to go through the entire email threads for each of the submitted projects at the end to review.

Hence, summarize the feedback you receive on the completion of each assignment in a few lines and add them to your sticky notes. By the end of the month, you’ll have an entire list of things you need to work on or have improved already.

Furthermore, you can also keep notes for the emails you send weekly with other information like the name and email address of the receiver and the purpose of the email. Just cross out the list as you finish sending them. It can significantly help you to take control of your inbox.

Add Reminders

Use Sticky Notes to add reminders of small things you need to do today and don’t want to bother adding to your calendar.

You can also set reminders about the emails you have to send today, follow-ups, interviews, or meetings you need to attend.

Respond Faster to Emails

Many people spend minutes, if not hours, thinking about how to respond to an email. It often eats up a big chunk of our time.

Sticky Notes are the perfect place to add quick one-liners that you can use to respond to different types of emails. All you'll need to do is copy-paste the text from here.

It’s especially true if you receive similar queries regularly in different forms. You can just create a template to use for them and change the details as required.

Create Templates for Different Purposes

Besides responding to queries, we need to write emails for multiple other occasions. We go through the same thinking process each time to ensure the final outcome is professional.

Hence, create pre-made email templates for those such events so you don’t waste enough time just thinking about what to write. Instead, copy and paste it from your Sticky Notes. Here are some of the occasions that you should have a pre-made email for:

• Making an apology via email.
• Thanking your boss or colleague.
• Accepting a new project.
• Asking for sick leave.
• Requesting a deadline extension.
• Following up on emails.
• Asking for updates on the project from coworkers.

Keep an Email Checklist

If you’re into sales, looking for a new job, or work as a contractor and need to send emails regularly, you can experiment and figure out which of your emails bring great results and which ones fall flat. Finally, analyze the details you've covered in them.

Based on that, create a checklist in your Sticky Notes for what to include in your emails and what to avoid. You can cross-check each of the new emails you compose with this checklist before sending them to ensure better results. For example:

1. Does my subject line address the recipient directly?
2. Have I greeted the recipient?
3. Is there a good hook in the beginning?
4. Are my intentions with this email clear?
5. Have I proofread it?
6. Have I attached the essential documents or links?
7. Does it include a good call to action?
8. Is the sign-off good enough?

Keep a List of Ready To Use Subject Lines

Similar to the email templates, you can also keep a list of powerful subject lines to make your job easier and speed up the process. To ensure, you can find one for an exact moment, you can categorize them in bold and use them as you like.

For example,

• Thank You [Full name]
• The Confusion in my Last Email
• Pleased to Accept the New Project

Sticky Notes in Outlook to Make Your Life Easier

Emails might be time taking, but they’re something that we simply cannot ignore. Hence, using a tool like Sticky Notes can help you send and respond to them faster than before.

Plus, getting all your notes synced to OneNote on mobile and the Sticky Notes application on Windows is another excellent addition.

If you’re still not familiar with Microsoft OneNote's features, consider reading about them as well.