BETTER YET 7-1-2003

Meetings & Conventions: Short Cuts July 2003 Current Issue
August 2002
Short Cuts:BETTER YET

Managing Your E-mail Inbox

Two colleagues recently compared their e-mail inboxes and found they handled the flow very differently. One had more than 2,000 saved messages in a seemingly endless scroll of subject headers, and the other had 50, with especially important communiqués filed away in other folders. Here are some suggestions for keeping a clean inbox, from the makers of Eudora e-mail software (www.eudora.com).

CREATE SUBJECT FOLDERS. A stuffed inbox and outbox will trigger the “too full” notice. The subject-specific work and personal folders you create, however, can be filled to your heart’s content. In Eudora, these areas are new mailboxes; in Microsoft Outlook, they are new folders within your personal folder.

FILTER THE INCOMING. The next step is to set up filters that will automatically send messages to the appropriate folders, which will keep the inbox even more uncluttered.

MAKE QUICK DECISIONS. As soon as you read a message, respond to it, if necessary, then either delete the original or file it in the appropriate folder.

• SARAH J.F. BRALEY