{"id":8504,"date":"2015-02-26T11:28:26","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T19:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itgroove.net\/brainlitter\/?p=8504"},"modified":"2015-02-26T11:28:26","modified_gmt":"2015-02-26T19:28:26","slug":"a-clean-inbox-with-quick-steps-and-search-folders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2015\/02\/26\/a-clean-inbox-with-quick-steps-and-search-folders\/","title":{"rendered":"A Clean Inbox with Quick Steps and Search Folders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I recently challenged myself to change how I manage my inbox. Previously, I would leave messages in my inbox and rely on tools like Search to find what I was looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believed this was a good way to go because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. I didn\u2019t have to fish through folders trying to find what I was looking for<\/li>
  2. I usually had a rough idea of WHEN I received a message and this let me scroll around to that date and the refine with search<\/li>
  3. Working in an organization that relied heavily on year based strategic planning it allowed me to get a timeline glimpse of what I was working on at what times of the year and plan for the following year.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    This left me with an enormous inbox (in my previous job 30 thousand messages in my inbox). Among other problems I was starting to experience performance issues when using Outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Starting a new job at a new company I decided it was a great time to re-evaluate how I manage my inbox. This coupled with the fact that here at itgroove we use Yammer for the majority of our internal communications. This drastically reshapes the flow of email (in a very positive way).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    My goal was: As often as possible have ZERO messages in my inbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In completing this process I\u2019ve become a huge fan of two features in Outlook and I wanted to take an opportunity to share. I\u2019ve seen these features everyday but never really considered how I could make use of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Search Folders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    If you haven\u2019t tried them before Search Folders are AWESOME. They add an easy way to find messages from a specific sender or that match a certain set of criteria. This lets you sort your mail by logical divisions such as projects and then also find messages by a second dimension, let\u2019s say all invoices from a specific company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creating a Search Folder is easy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Go to the Folder tab on the ribbon
      <\/a><\/li>
    2. Click New Search Folder<\/li>
    3. Setup your criteria and click Ok.
      <\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      As an added bonus once you\u2019ve setup the folder add it to your favorites in Outlook so that it shows up right at the top of your sidebar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Right click on the folder in the left hand sidebar<\/li>
      2. Choose Show in Favorites
        <\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Quick Steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Another feature I had always seen but never used. Quick Steps (among other things) allow you to easily file your email with just one click. Once you have your folders setup create a quick step for the most commonly used ones. For example Client Tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. On the Home tab of the ribbon in the Quick Steps area click Create New.<\/li>
        2. Give it a name and choose the actions you want for you Quick Step (in our example Move to Folder).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          You can get really fancy with the Quick Steps and create chains of actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \"2015-02-26_10-52-50\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          It\u2019s the little details that always make or break it and in this case these two small but helpful features in Outlook have really helped me in my email metamorphosis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          I recently challenged myself to change how I manage my inbox. Previously, I would leave messages in my inbox and rely on tools like Search to find what I was looking for. I believed this was a good way to go because: I didn\u2019t have to fish through folders trying to find what I was … <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[8,12],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Clean Inbox with Quick Steps and Search Folders - Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2015\/02\/26\/a-clean-inbox-with-quick-steps-and-search-folders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Clean Inbox with Quick Steps and Search Folders - Brainlitter - Inside the mind of Sean Wallbridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I recently challenged myself to change how I manage my inbox. 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