How to Set Focus Time in Outlook and Teams? A Step-by-Step Guide
Wondering how to set focus time in Outlook and Teams? If you are having trouble staying focused at work, you are not the only one.
With constant pings, emails, and back-to-back meetings, even the most productive professional will struggle. That’s why you need help.
And focus time offers just that! It helps make sure that you can think, plan, and work without any type of interruptions. Think of it like putting up a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door. Except here, it works across your digital workspace.
It basically turns off all non-essential notifications and lets everyone know that your attention is reserved for a high-priority task that needs your full concentration.
Both Outlook and Teams have built-in features that let you block off time in your calendar. You can also mute distractions and signal to your coworkers that you’re not available for non-urgent requests.
Setting Focus Time in Outlook and Teams for Maximum Productivity
“Why use focus time when you can simply mute notifications?” That’s a legitimate question many people have when they first learn about it.
However, focus time in Microsoft 365 isn’t just about muting notifications. This feature is designed to give you dedicated blocks of time for deep work. It uses your calendar and generates status updates intelligently.
When you set focus time in Outlook, it automatically blocks that time on your calendar so that no one can schedule meetings with you. At the same time, Microsoft Teams picks up on that schedule and changes your status to “focusing.”
This will reduce notifications and prevent distractions. With this system, you can have complete focus while also letting your team know what you’re up to.
Focus time works best when both Outlook and Teams are used, especially if Viva Insights is enabled. The following steps are the easiest method of setting focus time in Outlook and Teams.
Setting Focus Time in Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook uses a tool called Viva Insights to help you schedule focus time. This tool is built into Microsoft 365. It is designed to improve your work habits.
It does so by using data from your calendar, emails, and meetings. If you are using a business or enterprise version of Outlook, this tool is probably already available to you.
Try the following steps to set up focus time in Outlook:
1. Open Outlook and Go to Viva Insights
Open the Outlook web or desktop app. Then, go to the toolbar and click on the Viva Insights icon.
2. Click on “Protect Time” or “Focus Time”
Once insight Viva Insights, you will find the “Protect time” tab. It will show your current calendar and the recommended time blocks for focused work based on your availability.
3. Schedule Focus Time
You may accept the suggested time blocks or manually create time blocks. Select the days that don’t have any important meetings.
Viva Insights will then automatically create calendar events labeled as “Focus time” and mark you as unavailable during those hours.
4. Set a Recurring Focus Schedule (optional)
Want to make focus time a daily habit? Viva Insights also lets you set up recurring blocks. For instance, you can set up every weekday from 9 to 11 am for focused work.
You can also adjust how many hours of focus time you want each day.
5. Customize Your Preference
You can mute notifications during focus time.
Outlook may also automatically decline meeting invites that conflict with your focus time.
6. Edit or Cancel Focus Time
You can make changes anytime. Simply open your Outlook calendar and click on the time block. You can adjust the time or delete it completely.
Setting up focus time in Outlook is rather straightforward. If you are still having issues, an IT support company can certainly sort them out for you.
Setting Focus Time in Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams doesn’t have a separate feature to create focus time. However, it works closely with Outlook. So, you can use Viva Insights to essentially create focus time for Teams.
When you set focus time in Outlook, your team status automatically reflects that. This lets your coworkers know you are focusing.
1. Make Sure Viva Insights is Installed in Teams
Open Microsoft Teams and go to the Apps section on the left sidebar. Search for “Viva Insights.” Install it if it’s not already added. Once it’s added, you will see the Viva Insights tab in Teams.
2. Set Focus Time Through Viva Insights in Teams (optional)
Want to stay in Teams? You can schedule focus time directly from the Viva Insights tab here. The method is similar to the one in Outlook.
Go to the “Focus” section and choose the time slots you want to block. Once saved, your Outlook calendar will also be updated automatically. Your Teams status will reflect the same.
3. Automatic Status Updates in Teams
During scheduled focus time, Teams will automatically change your status to “Focusing.” It’s similar to the “Do Not Disturb” mode on other chatting apps.
It suppresses notifications from chats and calls. You can include some people in your priority access list. Doing that means you will receive notifications from their calls and messages.
4. Manage Priority Access Settings
It might be a good idea to put certain personnel, like your manager or team lead, in your priority list. To do that, you need to click on your profile picture in Teams. Go to settings. Click on privacy. Then, manage priority access.
Add the names of people who can bypass focus mode. Once saved, only those people will be able to message or call you during focus time.
5. Avoid Silent Distractions
Even though your notifications will be muted during focus time, you will still receive messages silently. Now, if you are the compulsive type, you might feel the urge to manually check for messages.
This especially happens in the initial days of focused work. However, you can avoid it by communicating with your coworkers.
Let them know in advance that you’re using focus time. So, they can plan communication accordingly.
If Teams or Outlook starts acting up during any of these steps, try contacting an IT solutions company.
Make Focus Time the Most Productive Part of Your Workday
Focus time can be incredibly helpful if used correctly. You can ask the best IT solutions company in Dubai, and they will tell you that it’s one of the core customizations they do for Outlook and Teams users.
While setting up focus time is relatively easy, you can always ask tech support to do it for you. Companies like Samtech are great at helping businesses get the most out of business tools like Outlook and Teams.
