Hi, Everyone,
Those of us who get lots of messages in our email Inbox every day day may find it difficult to keep them all straight unless we set up message filters, which most email programs allow. This is especially true if you belong to several email discussion lists, get lots of updates from Facebook or Twitter alerts and direct messages. Without message rules all my emails went into my main inbox and I had to look through all of them to find specific messages. I even missed important messages in the confusion. It made me want to unsubscribe from all the mailing lists and newsletters I was getting.
But with message rules set, my life is much easier. I have all my Twitter alerts sent one folder, all my Twitter direct messages sent to another, all my Facebook messages sent to their folder, and the myriad messages from the NCC Yahoo Group that I get as a moderator sent to different folders. This way i can easily see what messages I have received and decide whether to read them now or let them wait until a more convenient time.
But Internet newbies may ask, “How do I set these message rules or filters? I want ‘em but I don’t know how to get ‘em.” Here’s a brief tutorial on how it’s done in Outlook Express. The procedure may use different names in other email programs, such as email filters instead of message rules, but should be quite similar.
In Outlook Express there are a number of menu items on the top. Go to Tools => Message Rules => Mail, then choose the options you want in the dialog box that opens up. There are several choices and steps involved. I walk you through setting up a new message rule in the tutorial so you can see how I use this feature.
Most mailing lists, such as those hosted on Yahoo Groups like the New Coach Connection, also allow you to change your email delivery rate in order to manage the sheer volume of email you receive from them. See my quick tutorial on setting email delivery rates on a Yahoo Group here. Your choices are to have all messages sent to your Inbox, where you can use today’s tutorial to send them to specified folders, to get a daily digest of all the messages, or to get no emails and check your messages by going to your group’s home page.
Together these two strategies will help you mange your emails so you can be more productive.
Enjoy!
Don 
Don H. Morris is the list manager of the New Coach Connection discussion list hosted on Yahoo Groups. He is a life and relationship coach in Memphis, Tennessee. Learn more at Encouragement Plus Coaching.
Don and the whole team of NCC Connectors are dedicated to helping list members create supportive relationships that will help them grow as a person and to grow their businesses. If you have any questions about the list, please use the contact form on the blog to ask.
