How to Keep Your Inbox Empty

By Robyn Pearce

(1232 words)

As I work with people around the world on their productivity issues, almost everyone shares one common challenge – too much time spent on email.

One really simple strategy can make a huge difference, and yet hardly anyone uses it. When correctly set up, Rules save you filing time, make it far easier to keep your Inbox empty, and simplify finding things. (If you use something other than Outlook, check your Help menu for specifics. Sorry, but this explanation is for Outlook users.)

Many people know vaguely that Rules are useful. Some know that they can be created to assist in automatic filing of much of our mail. But even those who do know, often don’t follow through for fear that they’ll lose sight of new mail. (I was just the same for years!) In fact you won’t lose anything – as long as you change one tiny action when you first go to your Inbox.

First we’ll examine both the simple and advanced applications and some basic tips.
We’ll discuss how to file the ‘Sent’ mail
Then I’ll show you how to keep everything under your nose in a beautifully elegant and time-saving way.
We’ll finish with very cool extra options that will save you hours of time.

How to create a Rule:
Choose an email in your Inbox that you’d like to keep. Right-click on it. A menu will open up. Choose ‘Create Rule’.

In the small ‘Create Rule’ dialogue box that opens you’ll see the email of the sender and the subject line in the top two boxes. If you want to save all correspondence from that person to only one folder, tick the top box. (How to manage a person who covers multiple topics is explained below.) Only tick the second one if the subject line is always the same.

The two panels at the bottom of the dialogue box are the key to it all. Tick ‘Move email to folder’ and then ‘Select Folder’. This will open up your entire list of folders, if you’ve got some. Highlight your chosen folder and click OK.

Now you’ve got a simple rule.

How to set up folders whilst working in Rules:
If you don’t yet have folders for different topics, don’t worry. You can create them as you go. Essentially you’re setting up a filing cabinet, only this one is electronic. Leaving everything in your Inbox is just as bad as having a big filing cabinet with all your papers thrown randomly in and no system at all. Not only is it brain-clogging, messy and confusing but eventually (if you’re on a corporate server) you’ll have problems. (I recently heard of 12,000 emails in an Inbox – and yes, that server did indeed crash!)

(Tip when creating a new folder – check carefully where it will sit. It will default to below whatever folder was highlighted in the dialogue box unless you choose differently. Some people file everything under Inbox; I go higher and file under Personal Folders.)

The cool and sophisticated part!
‘Advanced Options’ covers all the variables. Take a tour through all the screens and prepare to be delighted. The Wizard will walk you through a bunch of additions, inclusions and exceptions.

For instance, suppose you want everything with the word ‘Media’ in either the subject line or in the body of the text, and which comes from your PR firm, to go to a Media folder. In the first page of the Advanced Options Wizard you’d tick both ‘with specific words in the body’ and ‘with specific words in the message header’. In the Edit box below, click on both sets of ‘specific words’ (this will show up once you’ve ticked as directed in the top panel). Now you can add any words you like.

You’ll almost certainly have a few people who send mail on multiple topics. Suppose you want most of the mail from Bill, your Administration Manager, in one folder but travel bookings he organises for you in a separate Travel folder. Use the ‘exception’ facility. (And ask him to put the word ‘Travel’ or ‘Bookings’ in his subject line.) The description will then look something like this:

Apply this rule after the message arrives
from Bill
move it to the Office folder
except if the subject or body contains Travel or Bookings

How to manage outgoing mail:
If you're still using earlier versions of Outlook, it can't apply the same Rules process to Sent mail. However, Outlook 07 has much better filing features - if you've upgraded check out that feature.

There are also proprietory plug-ins which help with filing your mail. One is SpeedFiler – it’s a fantastic and very intuitive piece of software (and very inexpensive). It can save hours of filing time plus takes away the risk of important emails disappearing into the bowels of your Sent box. Another is Xobni - I've not used it but have heard good reports.

How can I keep track of filed mails if they’re automatically filed?:
Some will tell you to watch out for the bold font beside each folder but that is not the best answer. If you’ve got any sub-folders you’ll miss things.

One tiny action solves the problem. Instead of going to Inbox when you check new mail, go first to ‘Unread Mail’. If you’ve not activated it you’ll find it (shown in italics) under Search Folders, usually near the bottom of your entire list of Mail Folders. The first time you click on ‘Unread Mail’ it will populate with any unread mail, no matter where it’s sitting in your email system. (What you see in ‘Unread Mail’ is a replica – the mail doesn’t move.) Now click and drag the ‘Unread Mail’ folder up to the top left Favorite Folders panel. Whilst you’re there, do the same with ‘For Follow Up’ – it’s another really useful folder we’ll talk about in a minute.

Now, here’s the tiny behaviour change. When you open your email programme, don’t start with Inbox. Instead, begin with ‘Unread Mail’. Then it doesn’t matter in which folder your mail has automatically filed itself. Everything unread shows up in this folder, patiently waiting your attention.

How to keep track of mail and tasks:
Once you’ve opened a mail, if you go out of the ‘Unread Mail’ folder, naturally the mail will disappear. If you haven’t finished with it you have at least four simple options.

Right click and choose ‘Follow Up’. You’ll get a selection of flags. It will still disappear from ‘Unread Mail’ but will remain in the ‘Follow Up’ folder.
A right click will also give you the choice to ‘Mark as Unread’. Very useful if you like to use the ‘Unread’ folder as a form of ‘to do’ list.
If you use the Task function in Outlook you can simply click and drag the entire email into Tasks. It will also stay in whichever email folder it’s filed in.
If it’s an appointment or big task you need to block time out for, you can also click and drag an email into an appointment in your Calendar.

Once you start setting Rules you’ll delight in an Inbox with hardly anything in it. Of course you still have to deal with the mail, but many users save themselves easily up to half an hour a day.

Have fun with that Rule creation and easy filing!

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How to Keep Your Inbox Empty

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