In my last post
, I talked about how to avoid e-mail overload by using to-do lists to save my messages from an inbox black hole. But even with those ideas, I still found it difficult to sift through all the e-mail I received on a daily basis. I knew there had to be a better way to manage my inbox and I thought that some of you may have struggled with this also. Here are some of the tips and tricks that have helped me cut my inbox clutter.
Set up automatic filters
It’s best to use filters sparingly. When I first experimented with rules and filters, I got very excited and set up them up for just about everything. I had folders for everyone and filtered the messages by sender. I quickly found that checking too many folders is a nightmare. My inbox became useless because it only had the e-mail messages that I didn’t really care about. So, I refocused my filter efforts.
I removed all the filters for individuals and instead, filtered mailing list and auto-generated e-mail into their own folders. This greatly reduced my inbox clutter and gave me the control I needed to read those bulk mails when I had time.
Set up reminders
Once I had a good set of folders and filters set up, my inbox was usable again. But then I ran into a new problem—I didn’t check the new folders regularly, and I couldn’t seem to get into the habit of checking them. The new folders were turning into smaller versions of my cluttered inbox. Another black hole.
I decided to set up a daily reminder for myself to check those folders. I created a daily recurring event in Windows Live Calendar for each folder I needed to check, blocked out as much time as I’d need for that folder, and set a reminder for the event. This turned out to be a great solution because in addition to receiving reminders to check my folders, the event allowed me to block out the time I needed to check them. Problem solved!
Here’s how to create a filter in Hotmail:
1. Go to Options and select More options.
2. Select Automatically sort e-mail into folders.
3. Click New Filter and then choose which message types you want to filter and where you want those messages to go. That’s all there is to it!
Here’s how to create an event in Windows Live Calendar:
1. Go to http://calendar.live.com/, or from Hotmail, click Calendar under Related places in the bottom left side of the screen.
Windows Live Calendar will ask you to select your time zone if this is your first time visiting the site.
2. Click New, and enter your event’s details in the pop-up. To make it a recurring event or to customize the reminder, click Add more details.
3. Save it and you’re done!
More productivity posts are coming soon.
Enjoy,
Evan
