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Just looking at your overflowing Microsoft Outlook inbox gives you a headache, doesn’t it? But the good news is, a little inbox management can go a long way toward decreasing your email-related stress. Here are four tricks (for Outlook versions 2002 through 2010) to get you some relief:
Use subfolders. The easiest way to de-stress your inbox? Move already processed emails from the inbox to appropriate subfolders. Your subfolders can be based on client, matter, project, or whatever organizational scheme makes the most sense for your practice.
To create a subfolder, make sure your Inbox is selected, then click on the File menu and select Folder, then New Folder. Name the folder and click OK to finish.
Flag emails for follow-up. Don’t let yourself forget to reply to or re-read that important email! Use flags to remind you to follow up.
You can either right-click on the message in version 2002 and 2003 and choose Follow-Up (the resulting dialog box will allow you to choose from a list of appropriate actions, like Follow-Up, Read, or Forward), or click the Quick Flag on the right-hand column of the message (versions 2007 and 2010) and choose when you want to be reminded with a pop-up.
Turn emails into tasks. For an even more useful reminder, turn an email into a task. Start by dragging the email into your task folder using the right (not left) mouse button, then choosing Copy Here As Task With Text. A copy of the text of the email will be embedded into the new task in readable form, and you can read the email and add any notes (phone numbers, etc.) you need as you complete the task.
Use task assignment. Rather than forward an email to your associate or assistant with an instruction (and risk forgetting to follow-up), turn the email into a task (see above) and then assign it to him or her.
Depending on whether your firm uses Exchange Server (ask your IT person), you may get a confirmation of the task being marked “complete” and even be able to request a status report. In any event, a copy of the assigned task stays in your Task folder, so it’s easy to keep track of who is assigned what.
Of course, there are lots more ways to decrease your stress (and increase your productivity) with intelligent use of Microsoft Outlook. If you have some favorite “ninja moves” you’ve developed, or if you have a vexing problem yet to be solved, let us know by leaving a comment below!
Deborah Savadra is a legal assistant and software trainer specializing in helping law firms use Microsoft Office applications. Her blog featuring video tutorials on solving common Microsoft Office problems is at http://legalofficeguru.com.
Image credit: Daniel F. Pigatto (via Flickr).
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What's the point of right clicking to drag to the task folder? It appears to give the same result as dragging with the left button. It just adds an extra step to your process.
Right-clicking does give you some additional choices (in case the email has attachments, for example) for embedding the email into the task. If the left-click “copy as text” option is all you need, then you're right, it saves you a step.