Managing E-Mail Effectively

Before we offer tips on effective e-mail management, let’s ask the question, “Why bother?” If you receive a large number of messages, the answer is probably staring you in the face-a chaotic Inbox full of messages. With a little bit of planning and effort, you can turn that Inbox into…well…an empty Inbox! When you leave the office at the end of the day with an empty Inbox, you’ll be amazed at the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel.

Here are some tips to help you get control of your mailbox:

• Categorize, categorize, categorize.  Categorizing your messages offers several benefits. First, with the introduction of color categories in Outlook 2007, assigning categories to messages will help you quickly identify specific types of messages. Second, you’ll be able to search for messages by category with filtered views, search folders, and the search features built into Outlook 2007. You can assign categories manually or assign them automatically with rules. Whatever the case, the more diligent you are in assigning categories, the more useful they will be for finding messages and organizing your mailbox.

• Organize with folders.  Although you could simply leave all messages in the Inbox, moving messages into other folders will unclutter your Inbox and help you locate messages when you need them. There is no right or wrong way to structure your message folders-use whatever structure and number of folders suits the way you work. What is important is that you organize in a way that suits you.

• Organize with rules.  Use rules to move messages into other folders, assign categories, and otherwise process messages when they arrive in your Inbox. Rules enable you to organize your messages automatically, potentially saving you an enormous amount of time.

• Let search folders organize for you.  Search folders are an extremely useful feature in Outlook 2007. With a search folder, you can organize messages based on almost any criteria without actually moving the messages from their current locations. Search folders take very little effort to set up and offer you the benefit of being able to search your entire mailbox for messages that fit the search criteria. You can bring together in one virtual folder all messages in your mail store that fit the search criteria.