Ways ‘Microsoft To Do’ Can Keep You Organized

A digital list in Microsoft Office suite helps you plan your day and more

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McDaniel takes full advantage of the customization available with Microsoft To Do, creating to-do lists for different kinds of work, using the color-coding feature to distinguish tasks associated with each project, and keeping a separate, deadline-free list for aspirational, big picture tasks she’d like to tackle eventually.

Becca McDaniel
Duke Cancer Center IT Solutions Architect Becca McDaniel.

“You have the flexibility to make it make sense to you,” McDaniel said.

“Microsoft To Do” is included as a tool – alongside Outlook, Word, Excel, and more – that you can access it in a variety of ways:

“I like the idea of having one home portal where I can list my top tasks,” said McDaniel, who usually accesses the tool through an app users can add to Microsoft Teams. “Microsoft To Do lets you compile all of the to-dos that are assigned to you in one lens. You don’t have to click through 13 different places to find out all of the to-dos you have.”

McDaniel takes full advantage of the customization available with Microsoft To Do, creating to-do lists for different kinds of work, using the color-coding feature to distinguish tasks associated with each project, and keeping a separate, deadline-free list for aspirational, big picture tasks she’d like to tackle eventually.

“You have the flexibility to make it make sense to you,” McDaniel said.

“Microsoft To Do” is included as a tool – alongside Outlook, Word, Excel, and more – that you can access it in a variety of ways:

  • In the Microsoft Outlook desktop client, “Microsoft To Do” can be accessed by clicking the three dots at the bottom left of the Outlook window, opening the list and clicking “To Do.” 
  • Microsoft To Do’s list management capabilities can also be easily woven into your Microsoft Teams environment by clicking “Apps” on the left side of the window and adding the “Tasks by Planner and To Do” application.
  • You can get to it through the Outlook email Microsoft Office 365 web version by clicking the blue checkmark on the toolbar at the left side of the screen. 
  • Go to todo.microsoft.com, click “Get started” and follow prompts to sign in with your Duke credentials.
  • In addition to the desktop “Microsoft To Do”, you can download the app on Apple and Android devices.

Upon opening “Microsoft To Do,” the first screen all users encounter is the “My Day” page, which can be used like a traditional to-do list. You can add tasks, along with due dates, and when completed, dismiss them with a single click.

Duke Office of Information Technology Service Manager Steve Gray.

“In cases where you’ve got a lot of different tasks coming at you from different sources – you’ve got tasks coming from email or different projects – if you don’t have a good technique for managing that kind of work, using To Do can be great,” said Steve Gray, a service manager for the Duke Office of Information Technology and a Microsoft To Do expert.

Where Microsoft To Do shines is in how smoothly it syncs with other Microsoft tools and makes it easy to add items to your list.

When checking email in Outlook, any message that requires action can be flagged – by clicking the flag icon within the email listing in the inbox – and the email, complete with all the details about the task, will be automatically become a task in your Microsoft To Do list.

Also, when working with colleagues in Microsoft Planner or Microsoft Teams, popular tools for collaboration, tasks assigned to individual team members will show up as items on the members’ Microsoft To Do list.

“The big thing is that it’s easy to use,” said OIT’s Gray. “It may be hard to train yourself to get into it at first, but you can increase the functionality or increase the complexity of your To Do environment as needed based on what your workload is. You can make it as simple or complex as you need, you have a wealth of options.”

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