Email Management

Take Control of Your Inbox

Evaluate, process, and organize your email by setting up an email reference system. The distinction between reference and action information is necessary for Inbox organization.

Email Management Topics Covered

Changing Views

Arranging mail by date or sender

From the View tab, within the Arrangement group.

To view all messages by Sender and click on From. Displays all messages in alphabetic order
Use Compact View - recommended

Screenshot of Outlook options. There is a light gray box. Within that box there are two columns of settings/options. The first option is Date (Conversations) with a white open envelope and a closed yellow envelop. Below that is To with a white open envelope, a blue arrow, and an orange silhouette of a person. Below that, there is Flag: Start Date with a red flag icon. Below that is Size with a purple floppy disk icon. Below that is Type with a table with a yellow envelope icon. Below that is Account with a white box with a black silhouette of a person. In the second column, the first option is From with a white envelope, a blue arrow, and a green silhouette of a person. Below that, there is Categories with blue, red, yellow, orange, green, and gray squares. Below that is Flag: Due Date with a red flag icon. Below that is Subject with a white envelope with a document coming out of it, Below that is Attachments with a black paper clip icon. Below that is Importance with a red exclamation point icon. Below both columns are Show in Groups (with a black checkmark) and View Settings (with two overlapping black gears).

Strategies for Reviewing Email

Viewing messages by conversation (introduced in Outlook 2010)
Reading Pane – from the View tab, within the Layout group
Marking Messages
- From the Home tab, with the Tags group, click on Unread/Read

Right-click on a message or group of messages, select Mark as Read or Mark as Unread

Screenshot of Message Options in Outlook. There is a gray background behind all of the icons and text. In the top left there is a white icon that looks like two file cabinets with a yellow closed envelope on top of it. Below that there is text that reads Assign Policy. There is a black triangle pointing down. To the right of the icon and text are three options. They are Unread/Read with a white opened envelope icon; Categorize with a blue, orange, yellow, red, green, and gray square icon. There is a black triangle pointing down; Follow up with a red flag icon and a black triangle pointing down. Below all of the text and icons is text that says Tags.

Create Folders

Right-click on the Inbox, select New Folder

Set Properties for a Folder:

Right-click on folder and select from the Properties dialog box check Show total number of items.
Click on Apply and OK.

Screenshot of Outlook organization and folder options. There is a gray background with the options listed vertically in a single column. The first option is Open in New Window with three overlapping white boxes. The next is New Folder with a yellow manilla folder icon. The next is grayed out and is Rename Folder with a folder icon. The next is Copy Folder with two overlapping yellow folders as the icon. The next is grayed out and is Move Folder with a white folder in the background and a gray folder in the foreground as the icon. The next is grayed out and is Delete Folder with a gray folder and a black "x" as the icon. The next is Mark All as Read with two white open envelopes. The next is Clean Up Folder with three closed yellow envelopes and a red "X" as an icon. Next is Delete All with a white open envelope, a close yellow envelope, and a red "X" as an icon. Next is Show in Favorites with a yellow folder icon with a white star on it. Next is Sort Subfolders A to Z with a blue "A," a purple "Z," and a arrow pointing downwards. Next is Move Up with a black triangle pointing up. Next is Move Down with a black triangle pointing down. Next is Properties with a white box that has text in it and a blue header as an icon.

Color Code Messages
Set a Quick Click:

From the Home tab, from the Tags group, click on Categorize and select All Categories from the menu.
From the Color Categories dialog box, select the check box for the category to change a color, rename, delete and add categories. Click on OK.

From the Home tab, from the Tags group, click on Categorize and select Set Quick Click.

From the Set Quick Click dialog box, select a category and click on OK.
From the Inbox, click within the Categories column to add a Quick Click to the message.

Screenshot of Outlook Color Code Messages. There are two dialog boxes. Both have blue headers and blue outlines. Below the blue header is a beige background. The first dialog box has Color Categories in the header. Below that, where the beige background is text that says To assign Color Categories to the currently selected items, use the checkboxes next to each category. To edit a category, select the category name and use the commands to the right. Below that there is a blue-outlined square with two header options (Name and Shortcut Key). To the right of the square are three gray buttons (New, Rename, and Delete) followed by two dropdown field options (Color and Shortcut Key). In the white square, there are a series of checkmark options. The options are ASAP (with a purple square next to it), Business (with a yellow square next to it), Family (with a gray box next to it), Friends (with a purple box next to it), Orange Category (with an orange box next to it), Personal (with a light green box next to it), SCSD Contacts (with a darker green box next to it), SJFC Contacts (with a yellow box next to it), and Training Sessions (with a purple box next to it). In the bottom right are two gray buttons (OK and Cancel). The second dialog box has a Set Quick Click header in the blue header. In the top right, there is a question mark icon and a red "X" icon. Below the blue header, there is a beige background. The text reads When single-clicking on the Categories column, add the following category:. Below that is an icon with red, orange, green, and blue squares. To the right, there is a blue dropdown field. The text in the field says ASAP with a purple square icon.

Flag for Follow-up

Messages and task, can be classified and marked for action by using Quick Flags.

Flagged messages appear in the To-Do Bar and your task list.
Drag and Drop message directly to the To-Do Bar.
Change the subject of a flagged message in the To-Do Bar, this doesn’t change the subject of the message.
Mark as complete- click on the flag and select Mark Complete
View Options-from the View tab, click on the To-Do bar and select which items appear.
From the To-Do bar, select Options to set the number of items.

Screenshot of the calendar options in Outlook. At the top there is a calendar for June 2021. There is a red line with text that says Date Navigator that points to it. Below that are the event listings. There are red lines with text that read Upcoming calendar appointments that points to it. Below that is a field to enter new tasks. There are red lines pointing to it with text that says Enter new task. Below that is a listing of tasks. There are red lines with text pointing to it that reads Task List (Flagged messages & tasks)

Email Reference System

A straightforward and efficient email reference system is the first step towards an organized Inbox. Each incoming message causes an action, by using a reference system will allow you to keep a clean Inbox. Up to 1/3 of email messages are considered reference information.

Reference information – information (email message) that does not required you to complete an action but you need to keep for future reference. The use of folders, contacts and notes helps in the organization.
Action information – information that (email message) does require you to complete an action. The use of calendar and tasks.

Sorting Email Messages

Set aside uninterrupted time to process and organize your email, reserve 1 hour per day by splitting the time into two 30 minute sections of time on your calendar. Mark your calendar as busy, 30 minutes in the AM and 30 minutes in the PM to check your email daily. The use of the Four D’s decision-making model will make it easy to sort through your email one item at a time.

Delete it – this can be scary process, but think about the percentage of information that you keep that you actually use. About 50% of all email-received can be deleted, or filed away for future reference.
- Is the information contained found somewhere else? If yes, delete it.
- Are you required to keep information contained within message? If not, delete it.
Do it - can’t delete it, can I do it in less than two minutes? Just DO IT.

Respond to message

Make a phone call

- Using Quick Parts- It will surprised you how many messages you can process in less than two minutes
  - Reusable content made easy select the content that you have created and want to reuse.
  - Add selected content to Quick Parts- within the body of a new message, click on the Insert tab and click on Quick Parts and select Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery.
  - Enter a Name for your Quick Part and click on OK.
  - To Use a Quick Part- from the Insert tab, click on Quick Parts and the gallery will all of your saved Quick Parts is displayed. Click on the Quick Part and content will be inserted at the existing cursor position.
  - Right-clicking on the desired Quick Part will display more advanced options for insertion.
  - Keyboard shortcut- enter the first few letters of the name for the quick part and press F3.

*QuickPart stores a local file on computer: Document & settings-->Username-->Application Data-->Microsoft-->Templates--> normalEmail.dotm, copy this file to another pc to access Quick Parts on other computers.

Delegate it – if you can delegate it, do it right away. Once you delegate the action, delete original message or move into your reference system.
Defer it – can’t be deleted, can’t do it in less than two minutes, can’t delegate it, and it isn’t a reference action. Defer the message to your calendar or tasks to complete later.
- - Drag and Drop method - Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Notes

Automatically Color Code Appointments

With your calendar open, click on the View tab, within the Current View group, click on the View Settings command button.
From the Advanced View Settings dialog box and click on Conditional Formatting button.
From the Conditional Formatting dialog box click on Add to create a new rule.
Enter a Name for the rule and select a Color from the list.
Click on the Condition button to set up the condition or conditions for Outlook to automatically apply the rule.

Within the Search for the word(s) field, enter one or more keywords that you want Outlook to match. *Note - if you enter two or more words, the appointment must match all the words to satisfy the condition.
Within the In field select where you want Outlook to search for the keywords: Subject Field Only, Subject and Notes Fields, or Frequently-Used Text Fields
Color-code appointments and meetings created by another person, click Organized By and then select a contact.
Color-code appointments and meetings that have a particular attendee, click Attendees and then select a contact.
Color-code appointments by Time, use the Time lists to select an operator (Starts, Ends, Created, or Modified) and a time (such as Tomorrow or Next Week).
Click OK to return to the Automatic Formatting dialog box and click OK to put the new rule into effect.

Screenshot of three dialog windows. All dialog boxes have translucent headers and outlines. Below the headers, all windows have gray backgrounds. All of the dialog boxes have white "X" icons in the top right. The first dialog box header says Advanced View Settings: Day/Week/Month. Below that in the gray background is text that says Description. There are then a series of gray buttons. They are Columns...(with text to the right that says Start, End); Group By (grayed out); Sort (grayed out); Filter (with text to the right that reads Off); Other Settings (with text to the right that says Fonts and other Day/Week/Month View settings); Conditional Formatting (to the right there is text that says User defined colors for appointments); Format Columns (grayed out), and Reset Current View. To the right, there are two additional buttons (OK and Cancel). The next dialog box has Conditional Formatting in the header. In the gray part of the box, there is text at the top that reads Rules for this view:. There is a white square below with three checkmark options: Training (checked), Website (checked), and Vacation (checked). To the right of the white square, there are four buttons: Add, Delete, Move Up (grayed out), and Move Down. Below all of this is text that reads Properties of selected rule. There is a horizontal line next to it. Below that, there is text that reads Name. To the right, there is a white field with text in it that says Training. Below Name, there is text that says Color:. To the right is a white dropdown field with a purple square in it. Below that is a button that says Condition... In the bottom right there are two buttons. The first is OK and is outlined in blue. The second is Cancel. The third dialog box has Filter in the header. Below in the gray background, there are three tab options. They are Appointments and Meetings, More Choices, and Advanced. The Appointments and Meetings tab is selected. In the window, the first option is Search for the word(s):. To the right is a blank, white dropdown field. Below that, is text that reads In:. To the right of that is a white dropdown field with text that reads subject field only. There is then a horizontal line. Below the line, there are two gray buttons (Organized By... and Attendees..) Both buttons have white fields to the right. Below that, there is text that says Time:. To the right of that is a dropdown field with text that says none. To the right of that is a grayed out dropdown field with text that says Anytime. In the bottom right is text that says OK (outlined in blue), Cancel, and Clear All.

Calendar Appointment - Working Elsewhere (PC)

From Outlook and go to the Calendar view.
Click on “New Meeting” or “New Appointment”
In the “Show As” field, select “Working Elsewhere”.
Ensure you have set the correct day and time for the appointment
Click on “Send” to save your changes.

Using Outlook Webmail (OWA) - Work Elsewhere (Mac)

Log into my.sjfc.edu, and from launch pad click on Webmail.
Click on the “Calendar” tab.
Click on “New Event” or “New Appointment”.
In the “Show As” field, select “Working Elsewhere”.
Ensure you have set the correct day and time for the appointment.
Click on “Save” to save your changes.

When using educational technology tools, be FERPA aware. To learn more, visit the Registrar's FERPA Guidelines site.

Email Management

Take Control of Your Inbox