1. Cut the clutter by eliminating newsletters and subscriptions. Sure, they were a good idea in the beginning, but eventually, you signed up for too many of them. Now, you're paying the price with inbox overload. So start unsubscribing and reduce the daily deluge of messages.
  2. Create some quick rules. Right-click a message and choose CREATE RULE. Setup a simple reflex rule that says "whenever a message comes from this person, put it in a certain folder immdeiately". These kinds of rules reduce your need to sort through and file mail. Isn't that what the computer is for in the first place? Just click your UNREAD MESSAGES folder in the folder tree and ALL messages you haven't opened yet - no matter what folder they are in - will appear in a single, consolidated list.
  3. DELETE OLD STUFF! Really - your inbox isn't a bottomless pit! If you already replied to a message, you probably have a copy of it in your SENT ITEMS folder (most Outlook users are setup this way) so zap that original. Keep your inbox under 30 items as a daily rule!
  4. Thanks, but no Thanks! Now, we don't want to seem impolite, but sometimes, you don't need to send a "thanks" reply. Same for an "ok" or "gotcha" or "later". In the normal back-and-forth of messages, don't worry about having the "last word." If the last message was clear and decisive, the other party doesn't need to get an RSVP every time. If you and I both agree to stop "thanking and okaying" each other, we're going to both be doing a lot less deleting!