How do you focus on your urgent e-mail and organize the rest for your review? Think about how you handle your paper mail. You probably sort your paper mail quickly before you read it to figure out what to look at first, what to read later, and what to throw away. Here are some similar ways to automatically process and prioritize your electronic mail for better and faster results:
(Although the following tips refer to Microsoft Outlook, many of these features are similar to those found in other mail systems. For specific how-to steps, and more e-mail and Outlook tips, visit The Software Pro website.)
1. Color Code to Identify Key Messages
Color code priority messages to quickly identify e-mail from your most important contacts such as management, staff, or team members. To apply colors in Microsoft Outlook, highlight a message from a contact, choose Tools > Organize, select the option Using Colors and pick how you want to color-code your incoming messages from the specific contact.
2. Streamline with Categories and Folders
Stop using your Inbox as a reference system filled with messages that don't require an immediate action. To further organize your messages, create categories and folders with useful labels such as Team Members, Projects, Personal, and others. The Categories feature in Microsoft Outlook, for instance, helps to organize and view active messages into groups within your Inbox. Create and use e-mail folders to store messages that you have already handled and wish to keep for history or folders for e-mail that contains informational reading and general reference.
Note that folders and categories sort in alphabetical order which is not likely to place your priority items at the top. Adding a letter or number at the beginning of a label, such as a-Team Members and b-Projects, will sort these towards the top of your Inbox.
3. Filter with Rules
Rules are instructions or filters that automatically categorize, organize, and prioritize messages based on conditions that you set. As new messages are received in Microsoft Outlook, right-click on the message and left click on the command Create a Rule to apply a category or move the message to a folder. If all you do is apply rules, you may be able to get through e-mail in half the time it took before.
4. Learn Easy Navigation
Stop wasting time by moving in and out of each message and start applying simple navigation tricks. In Microsoft Outlook, for instance, you can move in your Inbox with the up or down arrow key to select a message. Then press [Enter] to open the message. To move to the next message directly from the current e-mail, look for toolbar buttons with arrows or press [Ctrl] + > for the next message and [Ctrl] + < for the previous e-mail. Press [Esc] to close the active message.
5. Sort to Find Messages
To quickly sort your e-mail messages, click once on a column heading for the new order you want such as sender, subject or date. For instance, to sort messages by the sender, click once on the Sender heading. By clicking twice on a column heading, the sort order changes from ascending (A-Z) order to descending (Z-A) order. By the way, the abbreviations RE and FW in the Subject line are ignored when you sort messages alphabetically by subject.
Implementing these ideas for overcoming e-mail overload can help you become more productive and free you from your Inbox.
? 2004 by Dawn Bjork Buzbee
Dawn Bjork Buzbee is The Software Pro? and a certified Microsoft Office Expert and Microsoft Office Specialist Master Instructor. Dawn shares smart and easy ways to effectively use software and technology through her work as a speaker, trainer, and consultant. Visit http://www.softwarepro.com for great Microsoft Office software tips and tricks or to contact Dawn.
Benton shuttle to Midway .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareMy husband and I were enjoying our dinner meal one... Read More
Most people wish they read more. It is an activity... Read More
How much is your data worth to you? In this... Read More
Please don't think I am calling you a "moron" to... Read More
Are the endless lists of Top-7's and Top-10's taxing your... Read More
One way links will help you gain better rankings in... Read More
Leadership, leadership development and leadership training are "Hot" issues in... Read More
Have you put a lot of effort, time, and money... Read More
This is a quick checklist of a few things that... Read More
Cash is king-so they say. If you work for yourself... Read More
There are many places you can get books, and I... Read More
Imagine if you were going to address a stadium full... Read More
Many mistakes can be made in business and if you... Read More
If you are thinking of starting a new business, or... Read More
mistake #1: rely just on financial statementsProfit and loss, revenue... Read More
Talk to Your People Often By building a great... Read More
Let's put to rest the fallacy that success, in sales... Read More
How many of us have been in a position where... Read More
Counselling non-performing team members is a tough part of any... Read More
Either simply a looker-on or a player in the world... Read More
The following tips are from an article we contributed to... Read More
If you're a beginner, starting a website doesn't have to... Read More
So how do you eliminate your competition without bloodshed? You... Read More
It has been said you can lift the Rock... Read More
Authors/publishers are great at getting their books written. Entrepreneurs know... Read More
limousine Chicago airport Arthur ..1. Focus on the other Being known as a... Read More
The Ten Commandments of Goal Setting While it's good to... Read More
Please don't think I am calling you a "moron" to... Read More
The 9-to-5 grind can make you feel like a just... Read More
If you're a business owner, you know that repeat business... Read More
If you are thinking of starting a new business, or... Read More
1) Prepare a realistic business plan.Think of this as your... Read More
For most business owners and entrepreneurs, preparing, and communicating the... Read More
Positioning Your Company for Debt Financing:There was a time in... Read More
Your business card is a valuable piece of real estate... Read More
1. You have a big goal and you want someone... Read More
Do you want to be #1-10 on Google and other... Read More
So many people I worked with said they got more... Read More
Many businesses lose money yearly because they don't think creatively... Read More
1. Combine Emotion and LogicConsumers buy because the want to... Read More
Always include a powerful signature on every email you send... Read More
Only one of every 5 businesses makes it to its... Read More
Talk to Your People Often By building a great... Read More
Sometime soon you will be attending some training. It may... Read More
There are many places you can get books, and I... Read More
Who doesn't have issues with organizing their inbox!? I receive... Read More
Buckling under the weight of chronic corporate restructuring, and frustrated... Read More
I have some good news and I have some bad... Read More
At Macquarie University in the early '90s, three Australian early... Read More
If you are like me, you are living some distance... Read More
Top Quick Tips |