Office Management: Guide to Organizing Your E-mail

There was a time, not too long ago, that there was no such thing as e-mail. People communicated the old fashioned way - we wrote letters, picked up the telephone (and not a cell phone), or just stopped by in person to talk.

My first experience with e-mail was out of college working for IBM in the late 1980s. E-mail was a bulky, simple beast, basic in all ways. Computer connections were simple by today's standards, as the World Wide Web was still in its infancy.

Today's communication is vastly different than twenty years ago. E-mail has revolutionized the way we communicate on a personal and professional level.

As an office manager for an organization for more than ten years, I've seen the pitfalls and benefits of using e-mail. Yes, it's a wonderful communication tool. One of the challenges, however, is organizing the great influx of information popping into your inbox on a daily basis.

I would suggest keeping at least two different e-mail accounts. One account for personal use, and one for business. (You can always create others, depending on your needs.) Having separate work and home accounts helps to draw the line between your personal and work time. It also helps to organize your files more intuitively.

The first challenge to organize your e-mail is using the most effective software program. I've found the best e-mail program to be Microsoft Outlook. A computer industry standard, this program helps you organize your files into different folders. You can also create files using many free e-mail accounts, such as yahoo, msn (hotmail), and juno.

The next step to organizing your e-mail is to invest in anti-spam protection. Fortunately, many e-mail providers and ISPs have built-in anti-spam programs. If you'll be using Outlook (or similar program) and don't have adequate protection, it's guaranteed that your inbox will be filled with indecent and outrageous offers quickly. Check with your computer professional on the best anti-spam software, especially if you're running a business.

Now that you've got good software, and your inbox contains e-mails that you actually want to see, it's time to make a decision on storage. If you've got unlimited storage capabilities, some computer professionals suggest that you save everything. If you are dealing with a business e-mail account, this is especially critical. You just never know when you'll need that client e-mail from two years ago discussing pricing and payment. If your storage space is limited, save only the very essential e-mails, and consider archiving older data.

The final step in organizing your e-mail is to create folders in your e-mail program. Personal folders are just that - personally defined. Name folders so that you can find the information readily. I suggest creating main folders, such as "Clients", then creating sub-folders, such as "XYZ Company". For home accounts, separate folders if you're sharing an e-mail address with a family member. Make each folder intuitive, so that you don't have to got searching around your entire program, trying to figure out where you put something.

One of my favorite subfolders is "Hard to Find Stuff". There are few documents and e-mails that I had a terrible time finding, each and every time. After I created the "Hard to Find Stuff" folder, I know just where to look for those few files.

Organizing your e-mail into intuitive folders might seem like a lot of work at first, but after it becomes routine, it makes e-mail much easier to handle. You know where things are located, and your inbox isn't littered with 1600 messages. This will make your e-mail communications easier, more effective, and less time consuming.