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In today's high-pressure business environment, many people feel unable to cope with the volume of work they are expected to get through each day.

This sense of being overwhelmed is compounded when they find themselves facing a flood of new e-mail messages every time they open their inboxes, sending stress levels soaring.

Inboxes all too often contain vast numbers of messages received over several weeks or months, which have not been processed because of lack of time or indecision about what action needs to be taken.

Productivity trainer and consultant Gerrit Cloete, whose Getting Things Done with Microsoft Outlook workshops have helped more than 2 000 business people increase their performance without working harder, says the surest way to avoid e-mail overload is to deal with today's messages today. >"If you carry e-mails over from one day to the next, you will have a few hundred messages in your inbox before you know it, and that's not a good place to be," he says.

Cloete says your inbox should be restored to the purpose for which it was intended: as a collection point for new messages only. "Too many people have a huge number of sub-folders organised under their inbox folder. Logically this does not make sense, as being in the "in" box should signify that an e-mail still needs to be read. Everything that has already been looked at should be moved elsewhere." The golden rule for e-mail processing is: once you have read a message, do not leave it in your inbox, he says.

To restore your inbox to being a true "in" box, separate the messages on which you need to take action from those that you want to hold for reference purposes, he advises. "Create a folder called 'Reference Mail' and move all relevant messages to sub-folders within it."

But in some cases it can be useful to create sub-folders within the inbox, he says. For example, if you have sent someone a message requesting information and are waiting for them to get back to you, creating a sub-folder called "Waiting for" will serve as a reminder to follow up.

"When sending the e-mail, send a copy (CC) or blind copy (BCC) to yourself," suggests Cloete.

"Next set up a Rule in Outlook to automatically move any incoming messages that you've sent to yourself into the "Waiting for" folder.

"You will then be able to check this folder once a day or once a week to ensure that e-mails requiring further action don't fall through the cracks."

While e-mails addressed directly to a recipient are generally more important than CC-ed messages, e-mails arriving in an inbox can't be identified as copies without being opened.

"To focus on the more important messages first, create a sub-folder called 'CC Mail' in your inbox. Then create a Rule that will automatically move all messages where your name appears in the CC line to this folder. You can then read them when you have time," he says.

In sending e-mails, think carefully before adding someone's name to the CC list, he advises. "Ask yourself whether you would send the information to that person if you had to get up from your desk, make a photocopy of the message and attachments, and post it.

"If the answer is no, don't copy that person on the e-mail."

He says some companies have banned the use of "Reply all" in responding to e-mails, and suggests that we should all pause for thought before hitting that key.

Use the subject line to maximum effect, he advises. "When coaching my clients, I see many e-mails with FYI (For Your Information) included in the first line of the body of the message. Rather put FYI in the subject line so the recipient does not have to open the message to see it is for information only."

The subject line can also be used to summarise the content, rather than describe it. For example, instead of writing "Budget" in the subject line, write, "Budget review: expenses cut by 10%", he suggests.

If a message is short, write it all in the subject line, ending with EOM (End of Message).

Familiarise yourself with these e-mail terms and include them in the subject line for instant communication, he advises:

• NRN: No Response Required.
  
• Urgent: Immediate Response Required.
  
• RR: Response Required.
  
• HAHA: Message Contains a Joke.

Cloete says Kodak recently found that it had paid its employees $10 million in one year for the time spent reading e-mailed jokes. "Ask your friends to remove your name from their jokes distribution list or to put 'HAHA' in the subject line. You can then set up a Rule to filter all such messages to your 'Jokes' folder for later reading." He also suggests that you get your name removed from all distribution lists.

But junk mail can pose a trickier problem. "Spammers change their e-mail address every day so it is difficult to permanently remove them. In MS Outlook you can right click on a message you want to mark as junk mail."

He says we also need to choose our words especially carefully when writing e-mails. "In face-to-face conversations, only 7% of your message is communicated by the words themselves. When you use e-mail you only have the words, so ensure that your true message is the one that will be received."

In his one-day workshop, Cloete combines principles of workflow management with the power of Outlook to provide a practical methodology that applies well to paper, voice and electronic input.

"The workshop enables participants to get their work done more easily by enhancing their Outlook knowledge and skills, and introducing them to a paper management system that will declutter their environment and let them access information easily," he explains.

During the interactive workshop, participants have access to Outlook 2003 on a dedicated computer, or may bring along their own laptops, enabling them to start applying the wealth of practical tips Cloete provides to their own work projects immediately.

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