Taken from PC World Magazine, March 2011 Edition

I field hundreds of incoming e-mail messages each day.  Processing them – from opening the inbox to deciding which items to act on, which to file for reference, which to delete, and which to mark as spam – takes more than just time and energy.  It takes planning.  Here are some useful basic tactics to add to your e-mail strategy so you can tame your inbox and work more productively.

1 – Zero your inbox.  Attaining an empty inbox is a liberating experience.  Of course, new messages are likely to arrive at any minute.  Still, if you process everything in your inbox effectively, you can keep your list of pending messages at a manageable size throughout the day.  An empty inbox should be one of your daily goals – and it’s well worth trying for.

2 – Use folders sparingly.  Email folders can be useful for organizing old messages that you want to keep for reference, keeping your inbox clear of old clutter.  But don’t create more folders than you can consciously track daily.  When your folder list gets so long that you can’t see all of them at a glance, you’ll have trouble staying on top of them.  Also, review these folders occasionally and remove any messages that have been adequately addressed or are no longer relevant.

3 – Use filters sparingly.  Much of the email that I receive consists of project status updates that I need to know about but don’t need to act on.  Setting up filters to spot certain keywords – or to gather messages from a specific group and move them to a trusted folder – lets me focus on the primary tasks while leaving me the freedom to go to a single location to review the messages in a particular category.

4 – Delete first, read surviving messages later.  Most of the email you get is probably garbage, especially if you’ve permitted online retailers to add you to their mailing lists.  Instead of scrolling through your inbox each morning looking for important messages in deep drifts of junk, delete the obviously worthless items first.  When you’re out and about, you can trim the size of your inbox via your phone’s mail client.  Mobile interfaces are great for scrolling quickly through a message list and weeding out the junk.

5 – Take action immediately.  When you open an email message, deal with it at once.  If you don’t need to keep it, delete it.  If it requires no action but is worth saving, file it.  If it calls for action that you can complete in less than 2 minutes (such as sending a quick reply), act without delay.  If the message requires someone else to act, forward it to the appropriate person.  If you need to track the item to ensure that it gets done, put it in a folder so that you can follow up on it.  Check the folder’s contents at the end of each day.  If a non-urgent message requires more than 2 minutes of follow-up, defer it until you have the time.  But be sure to put it in a place you’ll be able to find.

6 – Slow your roll. To give yourself uninterrupted blocks of time, set your mail client to refresh every 30 minutes or so, not every 1 to 5 minutes.  If you use a Web-based client, such as Gmail, keep the email tab in your browser closed except when you think it’s time to check it.

7 – Use canned responses.  In dealing with email messages about recurring topics, save time by using boilerplate responses that contain such details as directions to your office, statements of policy, and information about important products.

If you practice these tactics diligently, you’ll be the master of your inbox.