Sent Box Zero

Email Efficiency

It has been a while since I wrote about email efficiency. I have given a half of a dozen presentations on this subject to my coworkers over the past two years and have seen some steady results. This post is simple, yet powerful. I have been categorizing the email I receive for over a year now, but I have more recently started to categorize the email I send.

Why Categorize Sent Mail?

By default, Microsoft Outlook will clear any categories assigned to emails that you receive from other people and, therefore, any emails people receive from you. So, assigning categories to emails you send would seem to be a fool's errand. However, if you create a Microsoft Outlook Rule that states, that a copy of an email you send that is assigned to a category are moved to a folder you specify, you now have an automatic way to archive emails you send.

By default, Microsoft Outlook does not let you assign categories to a draft of an email, but this can be achieved with a little VBA Macro. For instructions on how to create a VBA macro click here.

Public Sub CategoriesButton()

  Dim Item As Outlook.MailItem

  Set Item = Application.ActiveInspector.CurrentItem

  Item.ShowCategoriesDialog

End Sub

Added Sent-Box Zero to Inbox Zero is a powerful way to be more efficient.

Stay well engineered,

Devon

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These statements or products referenced are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.