Outlook: Organizing Your Inbox

From ITS Wiki

Is your Inbox a little out of control? Not only do the messages take up your storage space on the server, but a disorganized Inbox can decrease your productivity. Considering organizing your Inbox with the 4 D’s…

For every message in your Inbox:

1. If it isn't important, delete it immediately.

2. If it can be done in two minutes or less, do it (reply, file, call, etc.).

3. If it isn't for you or if you can, delegate (forward) it.

4. If you need to do it, but it takes longer than two minutes (including reading), defer it (hold off on it).

Delete it

Delete messages that you don't need to read. If it is junk, delete it.

Do it: Deal with any message that will take 2 minutes or less of your time

It is amazing what can be done in two minutes. But if a message takes longer than two minutes to deal with, defer it. To get a sense of what two minutes feels like, try timing yourself. Once you have dealt with the message, do one of the following: Delete it (if it is something of little consequence). File it into one of your folders (hopefully you’ve created a few).

Delegate it

Sometimes you receive a message that is really meant for someone else to deal with. In these cases, reply and add the person to whom you are delegating the message on the To line.

Defer it

Deferring a message means that you will come back to it later, when you have time.

Reasons to defer a message:

• It cannot be dealt with in less than two minutes.

• It will take a while to read.

• It will require a carefully crafted response.

• It requires additional action/work/research.

How to defer a message: Flag it

When you decide that you don't have time to deal with a message right away, you can flag it:

1. If you need to do it today, flag it for Today (In Outlook just click the flag to the right of the message, in your Inbox).

2. If you choose to defer it for a longer time, right-click on the message, move to “Follow Up” and choose another date.

3. If it is something you will need in the short term, flag it No Date so that it appears at the top of the To-Do Bar. Be sure to use this group sparingly and clear it out regularly, because it is at the top of your task list.

4. Once an item has been flagged, it will appear in the To-Do Bar.