Using color categories in Outlook 2007 to help prioritize e-mail

• With Outlook 2007, you can filter content easily by using color categories, and set your inbox view to collapse those categories into a more manageable view

• You can prioritize those categories—for instance, by assigning a top-down sorting order to them by changing the names to something like ".TeamA" or ".ManagerB." The '.' simply brings them to the top of the list. You can also use an "*" or some other name, such as 1-Cat or 2-Cat. The idea is to filter your e-mail messages according to the priority you deem important

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• You can either set these categories on your e-mail messages manually (i.e., as the message arrives, right-click and categorize it), or set a rule to filter and color-code them as they arrive. You don't necessarily have to move them out of your inbox using a rule, although this wouldn't be such a bad idea to help reduce inbox clutter and overall load on the Microsoft Exchange Server.. The main aim is to prevent you from becoming bogged down by too much mail traffic and having too many e-mail messages in your inbox. If you have more than, say, 200 e-mail messages in your inbox, you definitely have mail clutter!

• Admittedly, with the extended search capabilities found in Outlook 2007 and Windows Vista (formally MSN Desktop Search), mailbox clutter can be alleviated, but you still need to be ruthless with your mailbox hygiene, keeping only what you need to focus on in the inbox. For example, as a rule I make sure that anything sent to me directly, and marked as urgent, is acted upon by dragging that mail item to the Task Bar, setting a category and mail flag to prioritize it, and setting a reminder and timeline to make sure I act on it. I can then move it to another folder and rely on the task scheduler to kick in for me to act on it. That way I can keep on top of what I am supposed to be doing and stop getting bogged down with too many e-mail messages.

• You can do the same for tasks. For example, you can color-code tasks based on team meetings, and prioritize those accordingly. When you show up for a team meeting, you just focus on the color code for that meeting, expanding the contents to see what has been done and where there is slippage

• Visit Microsoft Office Online for an excellent online training and demonstration of how to "Get out of your inbox."

• On a lighter note: If you find yourself staring at your inbox wondering what it is you should be doing, you probably have Mailbox-Syndrome linked with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)—a very common ailment within the IT industry. Of course, it could also be that your second espresso hasn't kicked in yet. :-)

-- Rob Atkinson