CyberLogic Blog

One of the greatest challenges faced by many computer users is the management of email. Without an effective email management procedure, you’ll find that emails get lost in the clutter, you forget to reply to certain emails and eventually you end up with an unmanageable mess. 

The “Four Ds for Decision-Making” model can be easily applied to your mailbox, helping you to quickly decide which action to take with each item. With the Four Ds model, you have four choices:

1. Delete it
2. Do it
3. Delegate it
4. Defer it

1. Delete it

Most people hate the word ‘delete’ when it comes to email but you have to be realistic about it - about half the emails you get are eligible for deletion.  People tend to use their mailboxes as storage units for info that they themselves, or the company, has in another location.  And how many times can you re-read that joke or watch that funny video you received – just get rid of them!  Outlook 2010 makes it very easy to clear out a whole conversation, thus removing the whole thread and clearing out a lot of clutter at the same time.

2. Do it

The general rule is that if you can’t delete, can you do it in less than 2 minutes?  If you can, just do it, and then reply and get rid of the email.  In most cases, there is no point in filing an email.  If it is necessary to keep track of all your emails, create sub-folders, and archive your email in a logical way.

3. Delegate it

If you can’t delete it or do it in two minutes or less, can you delegate it?  If you can delegate it, do so right away. You should be able to compose and send the delegating message in about two minutes. After you delegate the action, delete the original message or move it into your email reference system.

4. Defer it

If you can’t do any of the above to a message, you will have to defer it.  Two things you can do to defer a message; turn it into an actionable task or turn it into an appointment.  Outlook makes it very easy to turn emails into either tasks or meetings.  You can then schedule and prioritize your tasks, thus managing your time, as well as your mailbox, more effectively.

 These 4 steps will not only help to manage your mailbox, but they will also ensure that your data stays safe. Apart from Outlook 2010, all previous versions of Microsoft Outlook only supported .pst files of up to 2GB. Once you exceed that size limit on your mailbox there is a risk of data corruption.  Apart from preventing data corruption, maintaining a clean mailbox will also put you in very good stead with your IT department, as it is an endless battle for them trying to keep mailbox sizes to a reasonable limit.