Overcoming E-mail Overload Using Microsoft Outlook

Do you feel like you just get too much e-mail? If you're like me, some days you just don't know where to dig in. Fortunately, I've found a few tips that can help you dig out from under the pile and organize the important e-mails in your life. These tips are primarily for Microsoft Outlook users, though others may find them useful as well.

Use Colors to Distinguish E-mail Sent Only To You - I get copied in on all sorts of e-mails, so I can understand what's happening with a variety of things. Many I am able to just look over and file for later. The ones sent only to me are usually important ones that need my action and often immediate attention. By clicking on Tools, and then Organize, then by clicking on Using Colors, I am quickly able to change the color of messages sent only to me. I mark these as blue, but you can use another color if it suits you. And while you're in there...

Use Colors to Distinguish E-mail Sent From Your Manager and Other Important People - More often than not, you'll need to pay attention to e-mail sent from your manager, your manager's manager, and other VIPs. Change the color on these to another color you know is important. I use magenta, but use what you like.

Click on various column headings to sort for important senders - Do you ever *know* that someone sent you an e-mail, but you're not sure when, and you're not sure what the subject is? If so, just click on the From column heading, and you can quickly sort by sender, and if you type the first letter of the sender's first or last name, you will jump to that letter in your messages. You can do this in any folder, and can always change back by clicking on the date column heading to sort by most recent or oldest.

Don't open any attachment from anyone outside your company unless you were expecting it - This goes for e-mail from your friends and family too. Just because the e-mail says "Funny joke. Open now!" doesn't mean it really is a funny joke. This could be a virus that will crush your entire work network, and you don't want to do that. Take it from someone who gets calls on this every day. If you don't know, just delete the message. If it's important, they will re-send it. Trust me. Or call the sender if you know them and ask them if they really sent you an attachment. They'll know.

Don't use your work e-mail address to sign up for newsletters, eBay, Amazon, or product activations, and especially don't check the box that says the value added partners can send you information. This is just an invitation to sending you garbage e-mail. To combat this, get a free Hotmail, Yahoo, or other account that you think of as a disposable account to collect all of this stuff. Sure, some you may read, but most is just junk anyway. Once you get on the list, you'll never get off the list. And along with that...

Never click on the unsubscribe button for any message you didn't specifically sign up for. This is like saying "Hello, this is a valid e-mail address. Please send me lots of garbage e-mails."

Last but not least, keep your work e-mail for work stuff, and your personal e-mail for personal stuff. Don't mix the two. Trust me, the more people that e-mail you at work, the more people think it's okay to e-mail you at work, the less productive you are at work, and the further behind you feel.

Phil Gerbyshak leads a team of people as manager of an IT Help Desk in Milwaukee, WI, and finds that sharing his knowledge is a crucial component for success as a leader and as a person. Phil's personal philosophy is paraphrased from Tim Sanders' fantastic book Love is the Killer App: "Share your knowledge, your network, and your love. The rest will follow." Feel free to contact Phil at http://makeitgreat.org or call 414.640.7445 anytime.

In The News:

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CBS News
The Fight Over Community Organizing
ABC News - 5 hours ago
Last night, both former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin mocked Sen. Barack Obama's three years, in his 20s, spent as a community ...
About Those Community Organizing Years... Washington Post
Community organizers defend job as training ground for politicians Globe and Mail
GOP criticism angers some community organizers The Associated Press
Media Monitors Network - USA Todayall 205 news articles

ACORN Responds to Attack on Community Organizing
MarketWatch - 5 hours ago
Every great movement in the history of the world has community organizing." ACORN has been building organizations and developing leadership among low- and ...

Does McCain Have a Different Take on Community Organizing?
ABC News - 1 hour ago
ABC News' Deputy Political Director Karen Travers points out that despite all the "community organizer"-bashing at this convention, Sen. ...

Community Organizing cont'd ...
West Bronx News Blog, NY - 1 hour ago
-Obviously this has tremendous resonance in the Bronx, particularly the northwest Bronx, where community organizing was literally a firewall stanching the ...
South Bronx Organizers React to GOP Punch Lines New York Times Blogs
all 3 news articles

Palin criticized for mocking community organizing
National Catholic Reporter, Missouri - 12 hours ago
Community organizing was work Obama undertook “instead of pursuing a lucrative career on Wall Street,” according to a statement from Catholic Democrats. ...
Palin in speech downgrades Obama's organizing experience and hits ... Chicago Sun-Times
McCain's VP Palin passes first test, but long fight ahead AFP
Palin Chides Obama, `Washington Elite,' Hails McCain (Update2) Bloomberg
Voice of America - The Weekly Standardall 3,539 news articles

NECN
Union County Red Cross organizing hurricane relief effort
ThisWeekNews, OH - 7 hours ago
By JEFF DONAHUE The Union County Chapter of the American Red Cross is organizing a relief effort for victims of Hurricane Gustav and the series of storms ...
THE AFTERMATH: Red Cross deploys volunteer to Baton Rouge Journal-Register
McCain, Obama Gustav fundraising MSNBC
all 241 news articles

Mississippi ICE Raid Connected to Union Organizing
VivirLatino, NY - 4 hours ago
Remember the ICE raids that happened recently in Mississippi? I just read a really important analysis about those raids and why they happened. ...
Did a Mississippi Raid Protect Right-wing Politicians? Political Affairs Magazine
all 2 news articles

Organizing Your Jottings
Wall Street Journal - Sep 3, 2008
Solution: Organize miscellaneous papers using Evernote (evernote.com), an online service that helps you store and search the information on your computer ...

Wellstone Action! responds to Palin's bust on community organizing
Minneapolis City Pages, MN - 6 hours ago
And Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, along with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, openly mocked and derided the job of community organizing. ...

Ward's Auto (subscription)
CAW Will Target Trade Policy, Organizing, Incoming President Vows
Ward's Auto (subscription), MI - 6 hours ago
By Eric Mayne Government protection for Canada’s auto industry and aggressive organizing efforts top the agenda of Ken Lewenza, incoming president of the ...

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