Productivity Tips for E-Mail

As more and more business is conducted via e-mail, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of messages you receive every day. Following these tips will ensure that you spend your time and energy managing your business -- not your inbox.

Use spam filtering. Nearly all e-mail services and client applications now provide for some kind of spam filtering. Find out what's included by your service provider and client application, and turn it on. Most spam filters do a good job of separating the spam from valid e-mail, and they learn which is which from you. So, once you enable the filter, be sure to check the spam folder that collects the garbage, and identify the e-mail you don't consider to be spam.

Create folders. Use your inbox like a to-do list, and treat each message as an action item. Once you've read a message, move it into a folder based on the project or client. A rational folder structure keeps your inbox manageable, and puts vital information at your fingertips.

Use filters or rules. Filters look at incoming messages and sort them into different folders automatically, based on parameters you've specified. This can help you prioritize and categorize your incoming messages.

Label your messages. Most e-mail programs let you color-code or label your incoming messages. Labels can visually separate your messages into subcategories, making it easier to shuffle through them later. For example, you could label urgent messages red, contracts green, invoices blue, and completed tasks orange. Most filters or rules can be set to label your messages automatically.

Consolidate accounts. If you have multiple e-mail accounts, configure your e-mail client to check them all for incoming mail. Then set up filters to move mail from specific accounts to specific folders, or to label the messages with different colors so you can differentiate them at a glance.

Use an address book. Typing long e-mail addresses over and over wastes time, especially when you can store them in an address book for automatic retrieval. Using your address book means you don't have to remember any e-mail addresses or sift through old messages to find them.

Use signatures. Instead of typing your name and contact information at the end of every message, set up a signature file with the relevant information, and let your e-mail program automatically append your "sig file" to the end of every outgoing message. If your e-mail program supports it, set up different signatures for clients, friends, and coworkers.

Create stationery. Electronic stationery is a framework or template that you can reuse for a given type of correspondence. You might set up stationery that contains a specific version of your signature, a tagline, the date, and even a "Dear [Client]" line. Using stationery saves time and ensures that your professional e-mail correspondences are consistent in appearance.

Discard e-mail. Delete messages that have no value to you or your business. And to save disk space, remember to empty your Trash folder regularly if your e-mail program doesn't do it automatically.

Get more tips on including Presentation Software and on AllBusiness.com. provides resources to help small and growing businesses start, manage, finance and expand their business. Copyright ? 1999 - 2007 AllBusiness.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.