A simple tip that is often forgotten:  Have your incoming mail sorted in folders for logical reading and storing (if need be).

I never really thought about organizing my emails until I had to.  With upwards of 150 emails a day coming in for business, business associations and community organizations I am involved in, I was forced to organize them in a coherent way.   I also receive a lot of notifications from the various Social Networks I am a member of and the News Alerts I have set up for my business.

I use Outlook.  I created rules (Tools, Rules & Alerts) based on the sender, message subject or incoming email address.   As the message comes in, it goes into the appropriate folder for me to read when I can. 

I have folders for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Rotary, Business Associations and News Alerts for email to be “auto-filed” into.  I have a client folder that is further broken down by client name that I manually sort.  The same holds true for college information for my daughter and school notifications for either of my girls. 

My inbox has had as many as 1100 emails in it.   Currently I am down to a little under 600… most of which should be sorted into a sub-folder, but that is a task for another day.  At least I am one step closer and learning to practice OHIO = Only Handle It Once J