Outlook is one of those programs that has many hidden features that you stumble across. One of these is date interpretation. Although Outlook is great for typing in a date or selecting one from the Calendar control, it also has some built in logic.

For example, it can interpret the following lines and correctly convert it to the actual date.

70 days before 10/16

4 weeks from 7/4

3rd Tuesday in August

10 Days after Christmas

I find this logic useful for projects when I want to set a reminder task for myself before a milestone or important presentation.

To use this logic you need to clear the Start Time: field and type your new entry. When you press the Tab key to go to the next field, Outlook will convert your entry.