Microsoft added some important new functionalities to Outlook mobile clients last month, and it had also promised to add some more by the end of this year. The beginning of 2023 is also when Microsoft is planning to add a new feature for its e-mail client to help users better concentrate on their work.
Microsoft is working on Focus Time in Outlook to let you schedule focus events directly from the Outlook calendar. This will help you work uninterrupted, as no Teams and Outlook notifications will pop up during this time. It is quite similar to how the Focus feature works in Windows 11.
When it arrives for everyone, you will be able to schedule your focus events direct from the Outlook Calendar. It should be very similar to setting up event types such as "Out of office," "Busy," etc., in the calendar. Although Microsoft has not shown us how users will be able to set it up, the most likely scenario is that the Focus Time along with "Free,", "Tentative", "Busy," "Working Elsewhere," and "Out of Office" options will be available when you start creating a new event from Outlook Calendar.
Google Calendar and Microsoft's own Viva Insights app allow users to schedule their focus events. Users can also set it up in Outlook with the help of the Insights Outlook add-in, though it requires a Viva Insights subscription. This is why Focus Time in Outlook is such a big deal — scheduling of focus events will be available for free to every Outlook user.
According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap page, Focus Time should be available to all Outlook clients in the month of January 2023. However, Microsoft can delay it by a couple of months, as was the case with dark mode for Word for the web.
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