Managing your email - keeping the deluge under control

I get asked pretty frequently what is the best way to manage a large amount of email?  In terms of frequency it's right up there with "What laptop should I buy?". There are multiple answers to both of these questions!

I'll show you how I manage my email below - if you want a laptop then head in to Dick Smith, tell them what you want to use it for and hope for a friendly salesperson!

Are you a filer? Or a piler?
There are two types of people in the world, filers or pilers.  Filers create individual folders for every single aspect of their life and file each email in the relevant folder.  Pilers just leave every email in their Inbox and hope for the best. I am a piler. My pile is smart though.

I have over 20,000 emails in my Inbox - I've been here for a few years now!  I keep track of which ones I have completed and which ones I need to action by using Categories and Follow Up Flags. But how do you handle looking at an Inbox with that many emails in it I hear you say!  I create Search Folders to show me what I need to see and nothing else.  How do you find anything I hear you say! Outlook has a great search function and it is even faster if it's only searching one folder - much faster!

Here is what my Outlook folder list looks like:

See all those folders with the magnifying glass picture on them?  Those are my Search Folders. Details of each folder below:

Inbox (To be vetted)
This is where all new incoming emails show up. At semi regular intervals I have a look at what has come into here and I either action it immediatley and click Done or I categorise it and then choose to either follow up on it today, tomorrow, or later that week.

Follow up today
This is the main folder I live in.  These are emails that I have categorised and flagged for follow up today.  When I flagged the emails for follow up I also gave them a category.  I only have a few categories set up; A1, A2, A3 and Not urgent.  I then have the Follow up today folder sorted by Category.  This means I end up with a folder showing only the emails I need to respond to in order of their priority - see below. Once I have completed an email I click Done and the email magically dissapears out of this search folder.  The email is still in my Inbox, I just can't see it in this view any longer.  Once I have completed all the emails in my follow up today search folder I am left with a blank Inbox - this is a GREAT feeling!

Follow up Tomorrow
Exactly like follow up today but with the follow up flag set to tomorrow's date.

Follow up
All emails that have been set for follow up regardless of which date I should be following them up.  I go in here to get an idea of how many emails I have waiting to be actioned in total.

Inbox (Completed)
This is a view of my Inbox showing all emails that I have marked as Done.

Ok so if this all looks good to you and something you would like to give a shot then read on for how to set it up.  It's a bit involved but should only take you 15 minutes or so and you only ever need to do it once.

Set up the Search Folders
First step is to configure the five Search Folders

Inbox (to be vetted)

1. Right click on Search Folders and choose New Search Folder
2. Scroll down and choose Create a custom Search Folder
3. Click the Choose button to specify criteria
4. Name the folder Inbox (to be vetted)
5. Click Browse
6. Uncheck the top level mailbox and select only the Inbox
7. Uncheck include subfolders
8. Click OK
9. Click Criteria
10. Click on the More Choices tab
11. Select Only items which: and change the drop down to have no flag
12. Click OK, then OK, then OK to save this Search Folder

Inbox (completed)

1. Right click on Search Folders and choose New Search Folder
2. Scroll down and choose Create a custom Search Folder
3. Click the Choose button to specify criteria
4. Name the folder Inbox (completed)
5. Click Browse
6. Uncheck the top level mailbox and select only the Inbox
7. Uncheck include subfolders
8. Click OK
9. Click Criteria
10. Click on the Advanced tab
11. Click the Field drop down and selct Frequently-used fields and then Flag Status
12. Set the Condition to equals and Value to Completed and then click Add to list
13. Click OK, then OK, then OK to save this Search Folder

Follow up today

1. Right click on Search Folders and choose New Search Folder
2. Scroll down and choose Create a custom Search Folder
3. Click the Choose button to specify criteria
4. Name the folder Follow up today
5. Click Browse
6. Uncheck the top level mailbox and select only the Inbox
7. Uncheck include subfolders
8. Click OK
9. Click Criteria
10. Click on the Advanced tab
11. Click the Field drop down and select Frequently-used fields and then Due Date
12. Set the Condition to on or before and in the Value field type [today] and then click Add to list. You must include the square brackets - these are next to the P on your keyboard.
13. Click the Field drop down and select Frequently-used fields and then Flag Status
14. Set the Condition to not equal to and Value to Completed and then click Add to list
15. Click OK, then OK, then OK to save this Search Folder

Follow up tomorrow

1. Right click on Search Folders and choose New Search Folder
2. Scroll down and choose Create a custom Search Folder
3. Click the Choose button to specify criteria
4. Name the folder Follow up tomorrow
5. Click Browse
6. Uncheck the top level mailbox and select only the Inbox
7. Uncheck include subfolders
8. Click OK
9. Click Criteria
10. Click on the Advanced tab
11. Click the Field drop down and select Frequently-used fields and then Due Date
12. Set the Condition to on and in the Value field type [tomorrow] and then click Add to list. You must include the square brackets - these are next to the P on your keyboard.
13. Click the Field drop down and select Frequently-used fields and then Flag Status
14. Set the Condition to not equal to and Value to Completed and then click Add to list
15. Click OK, then OK, then OK to save this Search Folder

Follow up

1. Right click on Search Folders and choose New Search Folder
2. Scroll down and choose Create a custom Search Folder
3. Click the Choose button to specify criteria
4. Name the folder Follow up
5. Click Browse
6. Uncheck the top level mailbox and select only the Inbox
7. Uncheck include subfolders
8. Click OK
9. Click Criteria
10. Click on the Advanced tab
11. Click the Field drop down and select Frequently-used fields and then Flag Status
12. Set the Condition to not equal to and Value to Completed and then click Add to list
13. Click OK, then OK, then OK to save this Search Folder

Add the Search Folders to your Favourites list
Drag and drop your newly created Search Folders up to your Favourites list at the top left of your folder list.  Place them in the order that makes most sense for you.

Set up your Categories
Click the drop down arrow under the Categories button in the Ribbon menu and select All Categories...

In here you can Create the categories that you want to use.  Feel free to copy mine (A1, A2, A3, Not urgent) and then tweak from there if you feel like you need some others.

Set up your Quick Steps
Quck Steps are configurable buttons in the Ribbon menu that give you one click access to different functions.  I have set mine up to make categorising and flagging for follow up as easy as possible - see below.

1. Click the little drop down arrow on the bottom right of the Quick Steps section and choose New Quick Step - Flag and Move
2. Name the Quick Step Today
3. Set the Flag to Today and un-check Move to folder
4. Click Finish
5. Click the little drop down arrow on the bottom right of the Quick Steps section and choose New Quick Step - Flag and Move
6. Name the Quick Step Tomorrow
7. Set the Flag to Tomorrow and un-check Move to folder
8. Click Finish
9. Click the little drop down arrow on the bottom right of the Quick Steps section and choose New Quick Step - Flag and Move
10. Name the Quick Step Later
11. Set the Flag to This Week and un-check Move to folder
12. Click Finish
13. Click the little drop down arrow on the bottom right of the Quick Steps section and choose New Quick Step - Categorize and Move
14. Name the Quick Step A1
15. Un-check Move to folder and select the A1 category you created above.
16. Repeat steps 13, 14 and 15 for A2, A3 and Not urgent

 Now all you need to do is set Outlook to start in your newly created Inbox (to be vetted) search folder and you are done.

Click the File button and then choose Options, Advanced and in Outlook Start and Exit click browse to select your Search Folder.

That's all there is to it - simple huh?  I know it's a long article and there are a lot of steps, but like I said you only need to do it once and if you recieve a large amount of email each day then you will really see the benefits of this system.  Let me know how you manage your email in the comments below and as always if you have any questions then pop them in there as well.

Cheers,
Mark