35) How can I make more effective use of e-mail?

well, whenever you proclaim yourself to be an expert on something, you're always open to criticism. So I'm not labelling myself as the ideal e-mail correspondent. And my turnaround has slipped in recent years.

Still I think I make effective use of the tool. I see it as a real productivity enhancer and not a pain in the neck (as do many of my colleagues).

Here's how to keep your e-mail from being a source of misery, for you and others.
Most of my tips involve Mozilla's Thunderbird but I'm sure outlook must have the same features.

The first two are "Don't"s rather than "Do's".
1) Don't use E-mail as a to-do list.

I drag the e-mail over to Lightning (Thunderbird's add-on calendar) and add a due date and an action. Often the subject line in an e-mail is not really an action item; and as many of us know too well, there is no due date on an e-mail.

2) Don't use it to store attachments.

This is a big waste of computer resources and leads to bedlam in your inbox. One friend has hundreds of e-mails in her in-box with attachments. It's just really silly.

Here's what to do. Use Email Extractor (an add-on) to extract the attachment. I've configured mine so it keeps the name of the file but adds to the name (i) who sent the file; (ii) when they sent it; (iii) the subject line of the e-mail. Just for processing, I extract them all to a common folder, "@AD" (for "attachment disperse"). Then every day or so, I go through and disperse the files where they need to go. (Or just delete them because I've attended to the task.)

Ok, so these two steps will cut your inbox clutter a good bit.
Now some Do's.
3) Set aside some time every day to process e-mail.

I just don't believe anyone is so busy that they can't spend 15 minutes a day processing e-mail. If people like Greg Duncan can get to their e-mail, then you surely can.

Think of it as time you would have spent on the phone. And of course, if you're a lousy e-mail-er, you'll save time with e-mail because people won't send you the same damn e-mail over and over.

I schedule (i.e., I literally put it on my calendar) an "odds and ends" time every day to do crap like this.

Marisa Domino comments that "this also will put a limit on the time you spend on e-mail". If you tell me, "I spend an hour reading e-mail and I'm still not getting your latest note", then I won't be cranky. I promise.

4) Use a folder structure to store e-mails you need for record keeping.
Don't just leave them in the in-box for months.

It's the equivalent of taking every piece of paper that arrives in your office and just throwing it in a paper. At the very least, I imagine you at least just have heaps like "class", "my new project" and so on. At the very least, have broad folders to sort your e-mail.

5) Acknowledge e-mails when you get them even if you don't attend to them immediately. I use the little add-on "quick text"--with one key stroke, I can send back a canned message that says "I got your note and will attend to this in the next day or so". Then I create a to-do item or stick a label on it.

5) Make effective use of labels.
Ok, so we've got your in-box largely cleaned out but there are now notes in there that have just arrived (which is the point of the thing, after all) and little stuff that doesn't seem like it needs a to-do item. For the latter, I do treat the inbox as a to-do list of sorts. But I use labels to remind me what I need to do. For example, suppose I have some piddly thing I need to do on campus, like sign something. I just slap the label "Campus" on it. Then during my "odds and ends" time (which I schedule every day for crap like this and answering e-mail) when I'm on campus, I will attend to this stuff and then delete the e-mail.

6) Display your e-mail threads.
At least for me, this helps me follow long back-and-forths on some topic. If it's something others are arguing about, I can delete the whole exchange with one button down the road.

7) Use filters
Set up automatic filters for a variety of purposes. For example, you might filter all of my messages into a folder called "Answer this now". Or if you work for an outfit like UNC, you get a lot of notices about one administrivia matter or another (such as the UNC Blood Donor Danceathon (presumably donation and dancing do not occur at the same time)).

8) Get Fancy--Have Fun
If you're a thunderbird user, install Nostalgy, for example. It's very helpful. If you type "G" and then start typing the name of the folder "C-A-N" you get taken to the correct folder (in this case, my wife's folder, "Candy Lee Hot Pants".) Also, Nostalgy let's you assign key combinations to folder. Control+G, for example, takes me to my google inbox.

Relatedly, explore some of the other add-ons. For example, Thunderbird has "Attachment Reminder". If the text of your note says "Look at the attached file" or such and you don't include an attachment, the add-on asks you, "Did you forget the attachment?"

More to come as they occur to me....

9) Marisa Domina had an excellent suggestion: Turn off the automatic e-mail arrival notification. It is a huge distraction; and you know you'll ready your e-mails during your e-mail quality time. 8-) See #3.

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Here is the list of add-ons I have installed. One wouldn't need all of these:
Application: Thunderbird 2.0.0.16 (2008070808)
Operating System: WINNT (x86-msvc)

- .vcs Support 0.5.6
- Attachment Extractor 1.1.1
- Auto Zip Attachments 0.6.2
- Buttons! 0.5.3.2
- Email Address Collector connector 1.0
- Extension List Dumper 1.14.1
- FoxClocks 2.4.91
- Lightning 0.8
- Maximize Message Pane 0.9.100
- Nostalgy 0.2.16
- Provider for Google Calendar 0.4
- Quicktext 0.9.9.9
- Remember the Milk Provider 0.0.5
- Restart Thunderbird 0.9.1
- Rewrap Toolbar Button 1.0.1
- Signature Switch 1.6.1
- SmtpSelect 1.0.12
- Tag the Bird 1.3
- Tag Toolbar 0.7.60
- ThreadVis 1.0.510
- ThunderBrowse 3.2.1.9
- Toolbar Buttons 0.5.0.5