BONUS TIPS: Fine-Tuning your Email Filing System (Even More)

Earlier this week we released our free special report titled: 8 Simple Tips for Email Management in Microsoft Outlook.

I was truly overwhelmed by the feedback I received from readers. Hundreds of users wrote back saying how the tips discussed in the ebook was already helping them.

“I have implemented your suggestions and it has improved my work flow already”
Norman (This was received few days after release of the report)

Other users (who were already using similar techniques) wrote back with their own ideas to further fine tune the Outlook Email Management System.

If you haven’t read the first report yet, I recommend you download and understand the ideas in that first. You can download the report now from:

In the next few weeks… I will be sharing the additional tips that has been shared with me by Outlook users. Remember these are tips that are being used by actual users and it has worked for them.

If you are struggling to manage your emails in Outlook… stay with us and follow the tips to overcome this common email overload problem.

TIP #1: Use Rules for Non-Actionable Items (e.g. newsletters)

In the first report, I said that you should “Think carefully before using Outlook Rules”. The main reason for this is that Rules shift emails out of your Inbox before you’ve had a chance to see them.

Like me, you probably use your Inbox as a To-Do list i.e. emails are kept in your Inbox until you have carried out the required action. This means you should avoid using Rules except…

We all receive emails that do not require immediate action (or for that matter any action)… how many email newsletters do you subscribe to that you want to read in your spare time. Getting those emails into your Inbox can be a bit of a distraction.

For those non-actionable emails, it makes sense to use Rules to move them out of your Inbox.

How to create a Rule

BEFORE creating the Rule, create a folder inside Outlook where you want the newsletter emails to be moved to. Then…

• Go to your Inbox
• In Outlook 2013/2010, Click the File tab > Click Manage Rules & Alerts. In the Rules and Alerts dialog box, on the E-mail Rules tab, click New Rule.
• In Outlook 2007/2003, click Tools > Click Rules & Alerts > Click New Rule to display the Rules Wizard

• “Move Messages from someone to a folder” will already be highlighted. (This example assumes that the newsletters come from the same email address – otherwise you can use one of the other predefined Rule Templates)
• Click “people or distribution list” to display the Rule Address screen.

• Choose a name from the list or type in the name in the “From” field and then click OK.
• Click the hyperlinked word “specified” to bring up the Choose Folder dialog. Select the desired folder from the list and then click OK.

Now that the Rule is created, any emails coming from the list will automatically be moved to the chosen folder.

You can also apply it to any emails that are already in the folder by going back to the Rules and Alerts screen and clicking the “Run Rules Now” button.

Try this tip… it surely has saved me several hours of time that was wasted moving or deleting this emails manually one at a time.

Hope you find this tip helpful… let us know if this works for you or not by leaving a comment below.