Welcome

Introduction

Author nameInformation Services

Taming the email monster

Julie Adams, Information ServicesJune 2012

Session overview

• Why we need to manage mail better

• Some techniques to manage mail better

• Using some Outlook features to help

– Viewing and organising your mail– Using flags and tasks– Using folders and Personal Folders– Searching within Outlook– Outlook Rules

• Dealing with spam

Why we need to manage mail

• Everyone gets too much mail…

• Takes too long to deal with

• Takes up storage space on the server

• Makes your email account slower to load

• Makes it hard to find the things you do need!

• To stop email managing us!

What are your main email monsters?

4 ways to take control

Set up a simple and effective email reference/filing system

Schedule uninterrupted time to process and organise email

Process one item at a time, starting at the top

Use the "Four Ds for Decision-Making" model

Types of email information•not

required to complete an action; keep in case you need it later.

Reference information

•information you must have to complete an action

Action information

4 ways to take control

Set up a simple and effective email reference system

Schedule uninterrupted time to process and organise email

Process one item at a time, starting at the top

Use the "Four Ds for Decision-Making" model

Four D’s for decision making

The "Four D's for Decision Making" model (4 D's) is a valuable tool for processing e-mail, helping you to quickly decide what action to take with each item and how to remove it from the Inbox.

The Four D’s model

Delete itDo it

(2 minutes or less)

Delegate it Defer it.

Delete...

• If the message is not about something you need to action or know about...GET RID OT IT!

Or • Move to a folder ”Stuff I daren’t delete”!

(in the short term)

Deleting email:Some questions to help you decide what to delete:

• Does the message relate to a meaningful objective/project you're currently working on? If not, delete it

• Does the message contain information you can find elsewhere? If so, delete it

• Does the message contain information that you will refer to within the next six months? If not, delete it. If not, delete it

• Does the message contain information that you're required to keep? If not, delete it.

Delegate...• If it’s not your job to deal with it - don’t do it; forward it to

the right person if necessary.

• If you can delegate it, do so right away– After you have forwarded the message, delete the

original or move it into your email reference system.

Do it...• Ask yourself, "What action do I need to take?" and

"Can I do it in less than two minutes?“If you can, just do it.

• If you can confirm or reject a meeting request immediately, respond to it!

Defer...• Some email will need more thought or take longer than 2

minutes to respond to – Defer, organise and plan

• Use Outlook features such as Categories, Folders, Flags and Rules to help you organise messages.

• Turn it into an actionable task, or turn it into an appointment.

Quotas

• There is a limit on the amount of email you can store

• The standard limit for staff is 250Mb

• The email server is set up so that: • Warning sent when mailbox size reaches 280Mb• You can no longer send when it reaches 300Mb• You can no longer send or receive at 500Mb

What makes the mailbox big?• Your main email folder is the Inbox. • Other folders that contain email include

– Deleted Items – Drafts – Sent Items– RSS feeds

• Check how much space is taken up each of these• Watch out for attachments!

Reducing the size of your mailbox

• Delete all your unwanted email items.

• Empty your Sent Items folder

• Empty your Deleted Items folder –

– set it to prompt to do so on exiting Outlook.

• Save messages/attachments and delete from mailbox.

• Save only the last message in a ‘conversation’

Checking your mailbox size

• Right-click on icon for “Mailbox – your name”

• Select Properties

• Click on button for Folder Size…

• Total size and sub-folder size is displayed

• Demo

Viewing messages

• Messages in each folder can be viewed in various ways

– By date received (default)

– By who it is from/sent to

– By size

– With attachments

• Selecting different views can help locate items or

decide which to get rid of

• Demo

Setting flags/reminders

• Outlook allows you to set ‘ flag’ as a reminder to take

action

• Click flag to right of message in active folder pane

– Set to ‘Follow up’

– ‘Mark as complete’ once taken action

• Can also set the colour for these

• Demo

Sent items• Easily build up in size – messages saved there

automatically

• Delete forwarded docs - otherwise can end up with 2 copies

• Delete earlier versions of documents sent in drafts

Removing attachments from messages

• Attachments can take up a lot of your quota

• Don’t use email as your main file store!• Can keep an email message, but save the

attachment elsewhere or just remove it.

• Demo

Create folders

• Folders and sub-folders can be used to organise

messages

• Can be used for specific topics or for messages from

particular contacts

• Move messages to folders by:

– drag and drop

– Move Items dialogue box

Archiving messages• Archive Folders can be used to store messages,

contacts etc

• Can use Auto archive settings or archive manually

• Not saved on Exchange server so don’t count towards

quota

• Can help make main email easier to organise

Creating Personal Folders• Personal Folders are used for archiving

• By default located on your PCs hard drive, so only

accessed from there – so not backed up automatically

• Can be in another location e.g. H: drive

• All messages saved in one Outlook Data File (.pst)

• Demo

Searching for messages• Several options for searching - helps if mail organised

first!

• Viewing by various headings may help

• Simple searches – but not always enough

• Advanced searches – By person, by date, by location/folder, with attachments

• Search Folders

• Demo

Using rules to filter messages

• Rules can automatically filter mail into specific folders– move messages from particular people to specified folder.– move messages based on their subject

• Rules are applied to messages as they arrive

• Can get quite complex – especially if have a number set up

• Demo

Dealing with spam

• Some messages filtered by IS

• Can set your own preferences:

– https://www.staffs.ac.uk/spamprefs-ext

– Add addresses to whitelist

• Check Probably Spam folder – some real messages

can slip through

• Also use Outlook Junk mail settings - add addresses to

list

Practice• Select the activities which will be of most use

to you:

– Check your account quota

– Explore sorting/view options, flags and categories

– Set up custom search folders

– Create a rule for your email

– Explore archive settings and set up personal folders

– Look at Outlook Today

– Practice with Tasks

Any questions?