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When and How to let Outlook Rules Control your Inbox

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Last week we discussed why you should NOT let Outlook rules take control of your Inbox. This week I’d like to show you why it makes perfect sense to use Rules to process your newsletter emails.

Do you subscribe to any email newsletters, mailing lists or groups?

I often find myself going to check my email and 30 minutes later all I have done is read through “interesting” articles instead of doing any real work.

Microsoft’s built-in Rules feature provides a solution.

Normally I don’t use Rules much because…

My Inbox is my To-Do list.

I don’t want anything automatically moved out of it. Even Outlook automatically moving items after they are read is NOT acceptable because I sometimes leave stuff in there to deal with later.

I want to move emails out myself after I have finished with them – I need to stay in control of my Inbox.

I use QuickFile 4Outlook to simplify email filing out of my Inbox (and Sent Items).

But in this situation it makes sense…

I want the newsletter emails moved out of my Inbox and into a folder dedicated to newsletters.

These emails are not part of my daily to-do-list and I prefer to go through them when I take a break from real work.

How to create a Rule

BEFORE creating the Rule, create a folder inside Outlook where you want the newsletter emails to be moved to. Then…

Go to your Inbox.
In Outlook 2010, click on File > Manage Rules and Alerts
In Outlook 2007 and 2003, click Tools > click Rules & Alerts
Click New Rule to display the Rules Wizard.

Outlook rules wizard

“Move Messages from someone to a folder” will already be highlighted. (This example assumes that the newsletters come from the same email address – otherwise you can use one of the other predefined Rule Templates)
Click “people or distribution list” to display the Rule Address screen.

Rule Address

Choose a name from the list or type in the name in the From field and then click OK.
Click the hyperlinked word “specified” to bring up the Choose Folder dialog. Select the desired folder from the list and then click OK.

Now that the Rule is created, any emails coming from the list will automatically be moved to the chosen folder.

You can also apply it to any emails that are already in the folder by going back to the Rules and Alerts screen and clicking the “Run Rules Now” button.

Use Rules in this way to move emails that you know are NOT part of your REAL WORK.

This keeps your Inbox clean and focussed on things that need your attention.

OPTIONAL RELATED OUTLOOK ADDIN: I recommend that you don’t use Rules to shift work related emails. Instead use QuickFile for Outlook addin to move emails AFTER you have finished with them.

QuickFile PRO for Outlook also has a special Newsletters feature which moves emails to a dedicated folder AND also reminds you once a day (at time of your choice) to look at newsletters.

Did you find this tip helpful? let us know by leaving a comment below.

Categories : Outlook Email Filing & Management Tip, Outlook Email Tips, Outlook as a Business Tool, QuickFile for Outlook

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Should you let Outlook Rules Control your Inbox?

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Friday, May 4th, 2012

Rules are a handy feature in Outlook that can automatically move emails out of your Inbox to any other chosen folder but… I personally almost never use Outlook Rules (I’ll write about exceptions next week) to move emails.

So why don’t I use Outlook Rules?

You might be aware of this phrase “Out of Sight, Out of Mind“, this is exactly what could happen if you let rules control your inbox. You might receive an important email from a client but even before you sight it, the email would be moved to a different folder leaving you unaware (and you most likely won’t take the required action).

I like to see ALL emails that I have not read or I have read but not taken action yet in one place… my Inbox… in fact the Inbox shows me the emails that I still need to work on.

I don’t use Rules because emails would be moved out of the Inbox before I’ve had a chance to even read them.

I move the emails out of the Inbox AFTER I have finished with it.

You can move the emails manually (by dragging and dropping) or…

You can use an Outlook addin like QuickFile for Outlook which speeds up the process. QuickFile lets you file up to 90% of emails at the click of one button by displaying an additional button inside Outlook for you. The button displays and links to the folder you are most likely to file the currently selected/open email.

This gives you more control over your Inbox and how emails are to be handled.

Next week I’ll have a post on when it makes sense to use Rules.

What are your views on the use of Outlook Rules? let us know by leaving a comment below.

Related Post

Take Control of Your E-mail Inbox

Categories : Outlook Email Filing & Management Tip, Outlook Email Tips, Outlook as a Business Tool

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Take Control of your Outlook Inbox (Not the other way around)

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

Getting overwhelmed with the numbers of emails in your inbox everyday? Do you feel overpowered by the emails in your inbox?

Stop for a second and think, does every email need my immediate attention? The answer might just be NO.

I have seen clients with hundreds and even thousands of e-mails in their Inboxes. Their Inbox is a massive filing cabinet and action-list rolled into one.

Your Inbox needs to be used like a To-Do list. It should contain only the e-mails that you still need to read or take action on.

After reading any e-mail:

Keep it in the Inbox if you still need to take action on it
File it OUT of the Inbox into another folder if you need it for future reference
Delete it if you don’t need it for future reference

Once you get into the habit of doing this, you will be amazed at what a useful tool your Inbox will suddenly become.

Don’t use the Deleted Items folder for filing old e-mails

Some users take control of their Inbox by Deleting the e-mails so that they end up in the Deleted Items folder.

They are using Outlook’s built in Trash Can to store their important e-mails???

Please don’t do this!

It is very easy to accidentally clear out your Deleted Items folder and lose all your e-mails. In fact there are automated tools that do this for you to reclaim space on your hard-disk.

Delete item’s that you don’t want to keep! File your important e-mails in project folders created inside Outlook!

Get started NOW with a “Still to File” folder

If you have hundreds of e-mails sitting in your Inbox, here is a quick way to get started.

Create a folder inside your Inbox and call it “Still to File”. (Right Click on your Inbox and click New Folder)
Drag all e-mails that you have already worked on out of the Inbox into this new folder.

You will now only have e-mails in the Inbox that still need your attention.

Doesn’t it feel good to be able to easily see only your still-to-action e-mails in one place?

When you get a bit of time, remember to clear out the e-mails from the Still To File folder into dedicated folders for each project or case that you are working on.

Tip 4 in our e-book shows you how to create a Project based E-mail Filing System in Outlook…
Click Here to download your own copy of the special report.

Move E-mails out of your Inbox at the click of a button

You can greatly reduce the time it takes to clear your Inbox while increasing the chances that your e-mails are filed in the correct folders using a special Outlook add-on…

QuickFile for Outlook is an inexpensive user-friendly Outlook add-on that greatly simplifies the filing of e-mails to the correct folders.

Find out more about how QuickFile can simplify your e-mail filing by Clicking Here.

There is a fully functional demo version that you can download and try out for yourself.

Do you have your own ways to take control of your Inbox, let us know by leaving a comment below.

Categories : Outlook Email Filing & Management Tip, Outlook Email Tips, Outlook as a Business Tool, QuickFile for Outlook

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Automatically Close Outlook Emails after Replying/Forwarding

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

When you open an email in Outlook and then reply/forward, after the email is sent, the original email remains open until you close it yourself.

This is fine if you are replying to 1 or 2 emails a day (which I’m sure is not the case with most of us), but image if you have several emails to reply, having to close the email each time you do a reply and that to for no good reason is such a pain and a waste of time.

Here is how you can set Outlook so that the email is closed automatically after you reply/forward an email (saving you from an additional click each time):

In Outlook 2010

Click on File on the menu > Options
On the Left-pane, click Mail > go to the Replies and forwards section
Tick the checkbox for “Close original message window when replying or forwarding”
Click OK

In Outlook 2007 and 2003:

Click Tools > Options
Under Preferences tab > click E-mail Options…
On the E-mail Options screen > tick the checkbox for “Close original message window on reply or forward”
Click OK

Now when you reply or forward an email, the original email which was opened will also close automatically.

Related Post

If you’re a user of QuickFile for Outlook, it is possible to close the original email and file it along with the reply to a chosen folder.

You can refer to our earlier post Outlook Can Automatically File Reply Emails with the Original (as the reply is sent) to learn how QuickFile can file the original and the reply email in the same folder.

Categories : Outlook Email Filing & Management Tip, Outlook Email Tips, QuickFile for Outlook

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Strategies for Outlook Sent Items Emails

Posted by: standss | Comments (0)

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

There are four things that we can do with emails sent from Outlook: 1) leave them in the Sent Items folder 2) Delete them 3) File them to another folder or 4) Leave a copy in the Sent Items folder and file a copy in another folder.

Here is how QuickFile for Outlook users can do all of these things almost automatically.

QuickFile for Outlook displays the Send&File screen every time you send out an email (i.e. the screen is displayed when you click Send).

Send and File screen

To leave the email in the Sent Items folder:
Click Send Only on QuickFile’s Send&File screen.

If you don’t want this prompt to be displayed (i.e. you want all sent emails to simply stay in the Sent Items folder), you can change the settings .

On the QuickFile Toolbar/Ribbon > Click More > Settings…
Under the General tab, you will find the option “Action to take when Send clicked”
From the Drop-down menu, select Do Normal Send
Click OK

To delete the email after it is sent (i.e. you do not want a copy in the Sent Items folder or in any other folder)

Click Send & Delete when QuickFile for Outlook displays the Send&File screen.

To file the sent email into another folder and leave a copy in the Sent Items folder:

On the Send & File screen, select the folder to which you want to file a copy of the email
Click on the Show Options >> link on the bottom right corner of the screen
Select the option “File a COPY of email”
Click Send & File button

If you normally want to file emails this way, you can change the relevant setting on the QuickFile settings screen.

On the QuickFile Toolbar/Ribbon > Click More > Settings…
Under the General tab, go to the section “Action to take upon Button Click”
From the Drop-down list for Send & File:, select File a copy of email to folder
Click OK

To file the sent email out of the Sent Items folder and into another folder:

On the Send & File screen, select the folder to which you want to file the email
Click on the Show Options >> link on the bottom right corner of the screen
Select the option “File/Move original email”
Click Send & File button

If you normally want to file emails this way, you can change the relevant setting on the QuickFile settings screen.

On the QuickFile Toolbar/Ribbon > Click More > Settings…
Under the General tab, go to the section “Action to take upon Button Click”
From the Drop-down list for Send & File:, select File/Move original email to folder
Click OK

We hope this blog post helps you get more out of QuickFile for Outlook. . If you’re not a user yet, you can view a demo video of Quick File for Outlook or download a free Outlook addon trial from our website today.

Categories : Outlook Email Filing & Management Tip, Outlook Email Tips, QuickFile for Outlook, Sending emails

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Take Control of your Emails and be more Productive

Posted by: standss | Comments (3)

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

EMAIL IS GETTING IN THE WAY OF REAL WORK for many of us… and many of us are constantly looking for ways of reducing the stress and frustration that email is causing, let alone the drop in our productivity.

One of the major factors affecting productivity is the time and effort needed to keep all the incoming and outgoing emails organized.

Normally the manual effort required means many of us just give up and leave everything in a mess. The reason for this is simple:

It takes too much effort to drag each and every e-mail out of the Inbox and into the correct folder.
It’s too easy to forget to go to the Sent Items folder to move e-mails out of there into the correct folders.

In this post, I will show you how I personally use our email management tool, QuickFile for Outlook on a daily basis… I hope you find ideas in it that will help you take control of your emails.

I am able to file 90% of the emails at the click of a button

QuickFile adds a toolbar inside Outlook. Whenever I select an email, QuickFile changes one of the buttons to the name of the folder I last used to file a similar email… most times the email needs to go into the same folder. One click and the email is moved out of my Inbox.

What I like:

I am actually filing my emails because I don’t have to hunt through a tree of folders… one click is so much faster.
My Inbox doesn’t feel like a list of endless tasks because it only contains emails that still need my attention.

A COPY of my Sent Emails are automatically filed to the correct folder

QuickFile prompts me for a folder every time I send out an email. The prompt contains a list of folders where I am most likely to file the email…. Double-click and the email is automatically filed to the correct folder after it is sent.

(The prompt can be turned off if you prefer to bring it up only when you want by clicking Send&File instead of Send)

What I like:

Without this, emails in my Sent Items folder were NEVER filed. I don’t look at Sent Items as often as my Inbox and it’s just too easy to forget.
QuickFile can either move the original email or file a copy from the Sent Items folder. The copy feature was implemented as a result of user DEMANDS and I really find this useful. A copy gets filed to the correct folder and I still have a copy in my Sent Items for quick reference. Many users tell me that they also use the Sent Items emails for filling in timesheets.

I don’t let Newsletters distract me

I subscribe to many different newsletter emails. Most of these newsletters do not need my urgent attention… they do not need to be added to my list of things to do.

QuickFile lets me treat any email in my Inbox as a newsletter at the click of a button. After that any email from that email address automatically gets moved to a folder dedicated to Newsletters, which I then read at my convenience.

What I like:

My Inbox does not get cluttered by newsletters… there is less stress each time I look at my Inbox.
I’m not distracted from my real work by an email with an interesting topic
QuickFile reminds me once a day to look at my newsletters with an email in my Inbox… I do a quick scan to make sure that I am not missing out on anything time-sensitive.
Many emails that I was spending (wasting) a lot of time reading no longer seem important… now that they’re not in my Inbox, I don’t feel as compelled to read stuff that I won’t actually use.

I (defer and then) deal with non-urgent emails in batches

Many productivity gurus recommend that you don’t deal with emails first thing in the morning but… we’re in a different time zone from many of our customers… I need to reply to them first thing to ensure that we are able to communicate while we are still both at work.

I start from my Inbox and deal with each in it. If it’s urgent I deal with it there and then.

Otherwise, I use QuickFile to defer it to 11 am… a time I have set aside for email processing. QuickFile moves the email out of my Inbox and then brings it back at 11 am. (QuickFile can defer each email to a different time of your choosing).

What I like:

My Inbox does not contain emails that I have decided not to work on now. This keeps me focussed only on what I need to think about.
The email automatically appears at a time of my choosing.
Batch Processing emails is actually a much more productive way of dealing with emails instead of getting distracted by emails 50 times a day.

I am able to find Email Folders by typing any part of the folder name

I have many folders of several levels inside Outlook. Finding the right folder to file or retrieve an email can take a long time… OK… it takes less than 10 seconds but it feels like a long time.

QuickFile adds a Find&Goto Folder button to the Outlook toolbar. To find a folder all I need to do is click on the button and type a few characters from anywhere in the name of the folder.

QuickFile shows me all matching folders and I double-click to go to the correct folder. Easy!

What I like:

I don’t have to remember where the folder is or its exact name… or even the start of the folder name. QuickFile will do a find anywhere in your Outlook file and based on any part of the folder name
It makes answering queries that requires reference to old emails much much faster.

That covers my favourite ways in which QuickFile makes me productive.

If you’re not using QuickFile yet… you owe it to yourself to try it out.

Also exclusively for all our blog readers, we are offering a special Productivity Tools Pack which includes QuickFile Pro for Outlook and another popular productivity tool of ours, EmailNotes for Outlook.

EmailNotes is an Outlook addin that allows you to quickly and easily add notes like ‘post-it notes’ to emails. With EmailNotes you can:

Immediately jot down ideas while reading emails
Add missing information to emails (usually gathered by follow-up phone calls)
Improve follow-up on emails (and INCREASE SALES CLOSING RATES)
Remember why certain emails were put in certain folders

Normally they would cost US $99.90 (QuickFile Pro = $69.95, EmailNotes = $29.95) if bought separately; however as a special offer to all our Blog readers, we are giving away QuickFile Pro and EmailNotes together as a Productivity Tools Pack for only $79.95.

This offer is only valid till the 19th of September so if you are interested, ACT NOW.

Click here to get more information about the Special Productivity Tools Pack.

Categories : Email Notes for Outlook, Outlook Email Filing & Management Tip, QuickFile for Outlook

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Productivity Tools Pack Special Offer (Limited Time Only)

Posted by: standss | Comments (1)

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

For a limited time only, exclusively for our blog readers, we are offering 2 of our best selling Productivity Tools, QuickFile Pro for Outlook and EmailNotes for Outlook as a bundle for only $79.95.

Normally they would cost US $99.90 (QuickFile Pro = $69.95, EmailNotes = $29.95) if bought separately; however as a special offer to all our Blog readers, we are giving away QuickFile Pro and EmailNotes together as a Productivity Tools Pack for only $79.95.

This offer is only valid till the 19^th of September so if you are interested, ACT NOW and SAVE UP TO 20% on this special offer.

This Special Offer End on the 19th of September

About QuickFile and EmailNotes

QuickFile is an Outlook addon that allows you to quickly and easily organize your mail into folders with a single click. With QuickFile you can:

Organize mail quicker
Send & File in one quick step
File 90% of emails at the click of one button
Find emails again fast and easy
Quick and easy to install and use

Click here to see what existing users of QuickFile are saying

EmailNotes is an Outlook addin that allows you to quickly and easily add notes like ‘post-it notes’ to emails: With EmailNotes you can:

Immediately jot down ideas while reading emails
Add missing information to emails (usually gathered by follow-up phone calls)
Improve follow-up on emails (and INCREASE SALES CLOSING RATES)
Remember why certain emails were put in certain folders

Click here to see what existing users of EmailNotes are saying

We believe in our outlook add ins so much that we offer a unconditional 30 days 100% Money Back Guarantee. No Questions Asked! This removes all risks from your decision so ACT NOW!

This Special Offer End on the 19th of September

Feel free to share the link to this special offer with anyone you feel might be interested in becoming more productive.

Categories : Email Notes for Outlook, QuickFile for Outlook, Special Discount Offers

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QuickFile Email Management Outlook Addin Update (Free)

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

QuickFile is an Outlook addin that simplifies email management allowing you to file 90% of your emails at the click of a button. Version 4.1.172 of QuickFile for Outlook is now available for download at our website.

This update is free for all existing registered users of version 4.0 or later.

Fixes and Features in this upgrade include:

Bug Fix: Find&Goto does not search Public folders in Outlook 2010 even though they exist.

Click here to view the full list of updates in QuickFile for Outlook
Download latest version of QuickFile for Outlook

New to QuickFile: Watch this short video on managing emails inside Outlook.

You can also download a fully functional trial version of the QuickFile Outlook addon.

Categories : QuickFile for Outlook

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Mouse Trick to avoid losing Outlook emails because of Drag and Drop

Posted by: standss | Comments (2)

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Have you ever accidentally lost a email or a folder because while you were dragging and dropping you accidentally released the mouse button in the wrong place? Here’s a quick change in a Windows setting that will prevent this mistake.

The trick is to enable ClickLock which enables you to drag and drop without holding down the mouse button.

WARNING: This change affects drag-and-drop (and highlighting) everywhere in your Windows computer (and not just Outlook). It takes a little getting used to so you may want to consider Other Options listed at the end of this post.

How to enable ClickLock for your mouse:

Click Start > Control Panel
In the Control Panel, double-click on “Mouse“
Under the Button tab, you will see a “ClickLock” group, tick the checkbox for “Turn on ClickLock“

mouse properties

Click OK

How to drag and drop once ClickLock is enabled:

Click on a Email/folder
Drag the Email/Folder to where you want to move it (you do not have to hold the mouse click)
To release the Email/Folder, click on the folder to which you want to move it

Other Options
If you’re still dragging and dropping emails when filing in Outlook, then this tip should help you to have less lost emails.

However it does affect how drag-and-drop and highlighting works in all of Windows. I am so used to the default way these things work that I preferred not to use this tip myself.

… plus I hardly use drag-and-drop inside Outlook. I do most of my email filing using a Outlook addin like QuickFile. This lets me file the majority of Outlook emails at the click of one button. If you’re not a QuickFile user, download a fully functional trial for yourself.

Categories : Outlook Email Tips, QuickFile for Outlook

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