Track time allotted to specific Outlook calendar items

Q. Is there a way I can track time allotted to certain calendar items? My boss has to devote a certain amount of time to particular tasks every week. I put all these tasks on her calendar, but I don’t know how to easily isolate those items and then do the math.

A. First, assign a category to all items you have to track. If you’re already using categories for some other reason, create a category with None for the color. Then, change the view to List (View tab, Current view group, Change View button, List). Right-click any column title in the view and reveal the Field Chooser. Locate Duration in Date/Time fields and drag it to the right of the End (date and time) column in the view.

Now, sort by category and collapse all categories (View tab, Arrangement group, Expand/Collapse, Collapse All Groups). Just expand your special category for Tracked items to see all the duration times. You could also export items to Excel, filter, and then calculate durations there, as well.