Microsoft Office is one of Microsoft’s flagship titles. It’s been around for over 20 years and is used throughout the world by everyone from primary school children to company directors.
Most users have heard of the more established applications in the office suite such as: Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook. But what about the lesser known titles? Today, I am going to focus on OneNote which is a superb note-taking and planning piece of software.
So what exactly is OneNote? In a nutshell, it is a central place to organise your notes and keep a variety of documents all grouped together. It can be used for a number of different tasks: from project management, brainstorming to planning your day.
If you would like to see One Note in action, here is a useful video on how it works:
To really get to grips with OneNote, the best way is to dive in and start using it for yourself. The General tab in OneNote has a brief summary on the different features available.
If you are not convinced yet, here are 5 reasons why you should give OneNote a try:
1. Access your Notes from anywhere – OneNote is not only available on your PC but also on Android, iPhone, iPad and Windows Mobile. Access your Notebooks from any PC via your Windows Live or Hotmail account. If you are out of the office and need to take a quick note, now you can.
2. Auto-save – Your Notebooks are being constantly saved so there is no risk of closing OneNote and losing any data.
3. Collaborate with colleagues at the same time, on the same Notebook – You and your colleagues can work on a notebook simultaneously, with each user’s initials next to their contribution. Ideal for situations when a team of people are working together on a project. Try doing that in Word.
4. Take pictures with your smartphone straight into your Notebook – Using the OneNote app, you can take a photo with your smartphone and this will go straight into your Notebook.
5. Integrate with Office – OneNote integrates seamlessly with the other Office products. You can assign Outlook tasks, insert Word or Excel documents directly into your Notebook or print directly into OneNote from the print menu.
Thanks to OneNote, I have managed to rid myself of all ‘to-do’ lists and my desk is a post-it free zone! Plus, this is only a small selection of the features it has to offer. It’s is an invaluable part of my daily workflow and couldn’t be without it. I strongly recommend giving it a try.