Rules
Rules are all the rage, and most techies use this feature in Outlook to make their email lives easier. Rules make sure that certain emails get special attention (or no attention at all), and those emails are moved to a designated folder. I also asked our systems and network administrator to help me create rules for those emails that I don’t need to answer right away, like press releases from organizations, notifications when an article of mine publishes, and the long list of “Take Action” emails that I receive for the myriad causes I like to track. Now I get to choose the time I want to go to the folder and read up on new information or take action without disrupting my creative process.
Organize Folders and Keep Them Clean
My preferred system for a massive delete mission is to arrange my email inbox by “From” and see what emails from whom can be deleted. Then I create folders by subject for those emails I need to file away for reference. For example, for company protocol, I made the folder “Protocol,” and for emails pertaining to research, I made a folder called, “Articles to Do.” The trick is to set aside time to clean out those folders, which I like to do every six months.
There is always going to be an overload of information, and a new technology around the corner that is anxious to deliver us some more. The rate of email bankruptcy is likely to climb as fast as real-life bankruptcy has in recent years. I am going to schedule time for cleaning out my inbox in hopes of avoiding the Chapter 11 fate myself. Back at Atlanta Magazine, Rebecca is trying to keep her head above water. “I still get 300–500 emails a day,” she told me.
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