subject: Outlook Made Easy - 7 Simple Suggestions [print this page] These guidelines are for you to read through and review on a regular basis, so see if you're still in line with them at the end of each month.
1) Invest in your Inbox
*Keep your inbox as clear as possible so new and urgent messages are not missed.
*Don't be afraid to delete junk mail/ unwanted messages.
*If your latest message is relevant to your interests, deal with it immediately, set a reminder to deal with it later, or send it on to an appropriate contact to action.
*Messages that are important but cannot be immediately dealt with should be filed where it will not be missed, with a reminder to be dealt with soon after.
*If your latest message is not relevant, delete that message and all related posts.
*Make sure that deleted items are permanently deleted by clearing the deleted items folder regularly.
2) Create Subfolders to help you keep track of incoming and received post
*Filing posts by sender name, "to do", and "processed" can be a great help when starting out.
*Feel free to be inventive (while staying relevant) with folder names, as this will help to keep You engaged when sorting and filing your post.
*Don't be afraid to delete junk mail/ unwanted messages.
3) Manage Outlook's storage effectively
*Archive regularly, this not only prevents storage issues in the long run, but also provides you with relatively current backups of contacts, emails and essential calendar dates.
*Save space by removing unnecessary attachments from stored emails
4) Automate where necessary
*If there are regular maintenance actions which are proving time consuming, such as Spam filtering and removal or creation of backups, it may be time to invest in an automatic solution.
5) Review and renew
*When going through your emails try to deal with them in a strict order and try to avoid a pick and mix approach.
*Keep a regular schedule - set time aside to deal with email in regular batches at regular intervals. Responding to each message as it arrives may not always be possible.
*As well as keeping up to date with email options, stay as current as possible by using Outlook's other functions such as contact management, using the journal, using notes, and the calendar.
6) Simplify outgoing traffic
*In your outgoing messages, added hyperlinks to relevant attachments (stored on the web) can be easily inserted into your messages by highlighting the relevant words and pressing CTRL-K. This also works in MS Word and MS PowerPoint .
*Make your email more effective, by keeping it short, providing a summary, and making it clear to the reader what you expect to be done once it has been read.
*Use old school control key combinations on highlighted text to speed up changes to forwarded messages: CTRL-C to copy, CTRL-V to paste, CTRL-X to cut, and CTRL-A to select all text in a window.
7) Stay Current with your Outlook Package
*There are many highly useful sources such as this, offering improved ways of working and up to date research. By keeping your skills current you can get the best out of Outlook.
