E-Mail has become an essential and unavoidable force in everyday business communication—billions of pieces are sent every week in the US alone. But it is far too easy to become overwhelmed with the contents of your inbox when you receive hundreds of messages per week, if not per day. Here are some indispensable tips inspired by professional organizer Elizabeth Bowman to make sure you are in control of your e-mail, and not the other way around:

When dealing with e-mail, be proactive not reactive.

• Forbid yourself from checking messages at inappropriate times like as soon as you wake up or in the middle of the night. Remember work/life balance!
• Limit the number of ways you receive information: services now exist to have both physical mail and voice mail become e-mail attachments to unite all your most important communication in one forum.

Take three steps to prioritize when to read and respond to messages:

1. Delete what’s unnecessary: spam, mailing lists, messages with attachments (save the file elsewhere and ditch the note)
2. Delegate tasks & responses. If you have staff who can deal with a message in a more timely and effective manner than you, don’t be afraid to pass it along. The “forward” button is your friend.
3. Decide your next step: if responding to a message will take you less than two minutes, don’t put it off till later. If it will take longer, set aside time on your calendar to respond. Set an appointment with yourself.

Messages in your inbox should fall into four specific folders:

1. Needs a response
2. Requires taking action (non-email)
3. Waiting for a response
4. Read & review (newsletters, mailing lists, etc.)

• Create a schedule for checking e-mail. Turn off automatic receipt and the distractions it creates. Instead, pick regular times each day devoted to checking and responding to messages. If people are expecting a more immediate response, don’t be afraid to set an auto-response to explain your schedule.

Check back soon for part 2 with Elizabeth’s tips on writing effective e-mail!