Outlook Time Management 1: How to Take Control of Your Inbox Tutorial

[@markf8683]

One on the BEST TUTORIALS ON THE KZbin! Almost 10 years old but STILL RELEVANT TODAY! Just started a new job and revisited this tutorial to re setup my outlook at my new company. Big time saver!!!!

[@Surface7Associates]

Amazing! Thank you so much for letting me know...was just considering whether to update the series...and I'mm thinking maybe YES!

[@marklawler7145]

Great series on Outlook productivity tips. I really appreciate the crisp and direct advise. No wasted time with lame jokes or self-depricating humor. Extremely helpful.

[@officeboyreloaded5427]

Just got it recommended by a friend, and man this is still ahead of the curve.

[@TheArielytepperman]

This system changed the way I work and I often forward it to my work associates. A Construction site's work flow is fast and intense. Details cannot be forgot at the bottom of an inbox and prioritization is essential. Thank you

[@Surface7Associates]

So great to hear, thank you for letting me know!

[@ganeshramaswamy3477]

One of the best that I have seen in years. Crisp and sharp, to the point.

[@mikerodriguez1963]

One of the better email management videos I've seen. One item you may want to bring up, however ... If you create folders that are subfolders of your Inbox, they will be deleted if IT makes any updates to the Outlook server. My IT dept recommended I create folders within my mailbox, not as subfolders to my Inbox. In that case updates would not result in a cleansing of my organized folders. Great video.

[@keikorono3079]

2:08 Having NO system causes stress 2:49 How I manage my E-mail 4:56 Creating folders to organize E-mail 6:25 Creating categories in E-mail 7:50 Creating & applying Quick Steps 12:25 Scheduling action categories 13:13 Customize Outlook's Start folder 14:00 Summary pt 1 15:00 Stay focused, minimize distractions 16:04 The 4 D's Model 19:02 You make the RULES 20:12 Creating RULES 23:45 Summary pt 2

[@Surface7Associates]

+Kei Korono thanks for taking the time for this. Note: We have these available as separate videos as well ;)

[@admiradordedamas96]

How-to you did the index with minutes ?

[@admiradordedamas96]

Add it in video description, please

[@jidongguo172]

24:57 why am I writing this lol

[@lordhriley]

This the best information I have received on Outlook. I thought Outlook was a joke and I thought G-Mail was the way to go. Now I see the value in purchasing Outlook and why it is the best. My whole life has changed from this information. I am now a BEAST! Keep coming with the videos!

[@Surface7Associates]

YOU ARE A BEAST! LOL We love hearing this stuff! Keep it up :)

[@nktwrk73]

Harry you walked right into that one, can't even help you smh.

[@ytolk]

This is the most useful video I have ever seen about e-mailing

[@scott8777]

Just wanted to give you a big thanks. I've been using your system at work for a few months now and it has been so helpful!

[@bw33511]

Thanks for the video! I learned more about Outlook in the 25 minute video, than I have in the years I have been working with it. I appreciate you taking the time to break it down and explain it. Very informative, looking forward to more videos from you. Thanks again.

[@kevshirtcliffe8936]

This video has actively reduced my stress at work - thank you so much! I'm a an advanced user of all kinds of weird and wonderful niche software but I've never bothered to sit down and learn how to use Outlook properly. I recommend this video to all!

[@razak8528]

One of the best Outlook productivity videos.

[@wackyp]

This was an eye opener for me. I already use quick steps but it never occurred to me to make them do more than one thing! Marking them read, changing their importance level, clearing flags, assigning categories, moving folders all in one go! Powerful stuff and I've been at inbox zero for 3 weeks. Many thanks.

[@Surface7Associates]

We love hearing this kind of feedback, glad it's helped!

[@antonykeen123]

stunning simple rules - utilising key functions i never knew were there. Right now i get 200+ mails a day and this helps me separate out the priorities. great vid...thanks!

[@JK-ct7cs]

After watching some videos about systems of how to handle the outlook inbox, this one seems to me as the first that is really helpful for a big amount of daily mails without scattering the information too much, but still keeping it divided in a good manner. I need to keep the important information gathered for later discussions, so I like the Archive as a source for later searches. I will try and adapt your system to my needs by using your subfolders per project and the quicksteps for the main project. Thanks for the video!

[@Surface7Associates]

thank you!

[@jorgenoorts7609]

before I had no system to organize emails. currently the workload at my work increased tremendously and I'm overwhelmed with so many emails. this helped me so so much!!

[@MrRamrod79]

I have never commented on a video before, but I had to for this one. Best email management system.

[@NavinKumar-rh6qo]

Im a novice to Outlook..... this is a perfectly done video to start !!! Kudos

[@Surface7Associates]

Thanks so much Navim :)

[@sets51]

I love your idea of prioritizing your tasks. This is very helpful.

[@fernando11scuba]

6 months later I am still using this and loving it.

[@Surface7Associates]

How cool is that, thank you!

[@Vibolka_Im]

I've been using Outlook about 2 years, but I've never known your tips. Great video!

[@luvslagos]

Great information. I will be spending my Labor Day weekend tackling my inbox of about 3,500 old emails and trying to get my sanity back!

[@Im2lazy79]

I had thought that I was using Outlook efficiently as I used some of these features but you have given me a new insight....great video!!!

[@Surface7Associates]

Im2lazy79 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

[@hotoven]

Thanks for this video. It's very life changing! I just changed the ARCHIVE folder slightly. I choose to ""remove the categories"" as well whenever I select archive. Otherwise, they pile up in the ACTION folder.

[@hernanperez912]

Best video in KZbin!

[@guranomo]

If only more colleagues used this. Works perfectly, I have full control of all email.

[@Surface7Associates]

guranomo It can be an amazingly effective organizational tool if the entire company adopts the system. We've done it for many firms, and with incredible results.

[@sharonzhou5654]

just got chance to study it today. It is really GREAT tutorial. Thank you so so much for done these!!! You saved my career lief.

[@AdityaSingh24]

Finally someone with details. Thanks for sharing.

[@revgenjen]

Truly the best productivity-related video I have encounter. Great job and excellent presentation. A+ Thank you. *you should present audio books too!!

[@Surface7Associates]

Wow, thank you!

[@sergiojgutierrezgutierrez5934]

This is by far the most useful video i have found among others. Really good planned class, and easy to follow. Thank you for your effort and making my life easier.

[@GurvinderSingh-tn1hw]

Excellent video. Appreciate the support you have given.

[@ladynexttoyou]

Great presentation. Very clear and easy to understand.

[@tanfel4]

Watching this in March 2017. I had no idea that Outlook could do all of these things. I'm so stressed by my Inbox everyday when going to work. Surface7 I'm so glad I found this video. Thank you. This is wonderfully helpful.

[@DerickLawson]

One of my favorite videos. I've sent this out to everyone I work with.

[@Surface7Associates]

Thank you! Spread the word: Email can be controlled! I know we've been quiet for a while but please stay tuned for more in 2015!

[@WarmShiningAir]

I am going to do the same right now :D

[@LuoCheng]

brilliant tutorial. I will put this as an online course for each new starter of the team

[@awebbo1426]

Excellent content. Probably the best on youtube. Has helped me no end. Thank you

[@danielstrickland6551]

This video is pretty much life changing.

[@Surface7Associates]

Yay! thank you! We love hearing that!

[@danielstrickland6551]

Surface7Associates After following your workflow tips for a few days, I'm feeling on top of the world. A suggestion for a fantastic follow up would be how to utilize this workflow when checking your e-mail from your iPhone.

[@Surface7Associates]

Daniel Strickland Oooh, nice. This is a real good suggestion, thanks Daniel!

[@Surface7Associates]

Daniel Strickland Also, please let us know any other topics you might be interested in seeing in the future -- we'd appreciate it.

[@clumox1]

Great video : Clear , practical, great slides and presentation.

[@abeniba3482]

thank you! most useful video of the year.

[@Surface7Associates]

THANK YOU!!!!!!

[@Goesserandmore]

Very good presentation!! There are two things I am missing: 1I how you deal with the outgoing emails. Does everything stay in the outbox, do you archive and what do you delete? 2) How do you manage attachments? Best regards!

[@tube9az]

I just wanted to thank you so much for this amazing video, I followed every step and I feel that I finally got organized in managing my e-mail. thanks again!

[@Surface7Associates]

that's awesome thank you!

[@YuZhengwen]

I've learnt a lot about Outlook. Outstanding video, man!

[@Surface7Associates]

Well alright!

[@barrister29]

super awesome you have saved me from the terror of email taking over my work life

[@Dimka267]

Today I've tuned my Outlook for this approach, it seems to give much more control than what I did before (simply flagging each letter that required follow-up work). Thanks! It seems interesting to try e-mail classification by projects, but I haven't succeded in it by myself this far :)

[@Surface7Associates]

Дмитрий Ермаков Good luck with it, let us know how it works out!

[@ElleAbbott]

Very helpful .. thank you!! You just upgraded me from a bicycle to a sports car!

[@abdullahalrashdi9990]

Awesome technique , I have been using this workflow for a few years now and this has saved me so much time and effort. Thank you. To take this a step further, are you able to follow the same workflow on an iPad? How?

[@dannagomez4291]

Highly recommend this outlook tutorial.

[@Surface7Associates]

Danna Gomez Good luck, let us know how it's working out. Is it down to 3k yet??? I'd call that success!!

[@almashibi]

Very informative, need to be shared with all outlook users

[@malsaso]

Awesome, best training ever seen, tons of thanks

[@Surface7Associates]

You're welcome! As far as viewing both by category and conversation, I don't believe you can do both; it's either one view or the other. One solution, however, is to create a search folder which filters by category -- within this "category" search folder you can then View by Conversation.

[@DODrumming]

NEVER DELETE THIS VIDEO SERIES!

[@wuilo2000B]

Mark - Thank you for this great training presentation. Can you share how one can organize the quick steps actions in the 2011 Outlook for Mac. I don't see the quick steps options.

[@colinanderlohr3563]

This is an excellent video. Thank you!

[@Surface7Associates]

Colin Anderlohr You are welcome

[@alexrfontes]

Just awesome!!! Thank you very much for sharing it here! Extremely useful strategies!

[@ketanphanse]

I would suggest for "Action - Urgent" also Add Action in Quick Step to "mark message as unread" - this way you also quickly get a count of Urgent mails to action upon.. and you can aim to make it 0 asap... you can do the same to Read as well

[@bijaymishra6774]

Amazing tips. , Starting this from Monday.

You saved my life!!!! thanks

[@Surface7Associates]

No problem, Lee. It sounds like you might be doing the best thing if you're working across IMAP accounts. However, you might want to check out some add-ins to Outlook (e.g., google: outlook category management add-ins). There are a few out there that expand outlook functionality to imap and such.

[@pkveljaya]

Excellent and very much useful one.

[@weiliu388]

so good advice! right to the real pains

[@slugsvideos]

What a wonderful video. Thanks!

[@brendankelly8092]

Excellent Video. Many many thanks.

[@rienthongw]

Thank you. This is a great VDO that help me manage my email.

[@aaronzor]

This was fantastic! Really appreciate it im going to put this into action at work!

[@SirMikeHimself]

This tutorial was so helpful, glad I found it! Look forward to watching the others- thank you!

[@scottwest5016]

Thanks for the help - you are a superstar!

[@dryicepacks6358]

Thanks again for your advise. I actually started looking into goolge and I think that will be the answer for us. God Bless :)

[@gnz67]

Great video!!! many great ideas!!! I will start working on these techniques ASAP. Some questions for you and the rest of the subscribers: 1- Do you keep categorizing emails through the day or you do this only at the beginning of your day? 2- How much time should be spent categorizing emails? I support a lot of customers, and I get hundreds of emails daily, with a lot of action items I need to work on. I can picture myself spending hours categorizing them. I want to prevent spending too much time categorizing constantly. Maybe I'm missing some automation concepts.... :) Thank you!!!

[@Surface7Associates]

gabysz As for Q#1 Categorizing happens each time I check email, at the time that email comes in. It becomes counter productive otherwise. As for Q#2 -- you can always set up a RULE to auto-categorize, say from a specific client, or to identify words in the subject line. Easy-breezy actually.

[@UncleOndatr]

Thank you, very motivating. Need more parts!

[@lornashortt9270]

learnt a lot, very helpful. been using outlook all wrong

[@PJAclera]

Great presentation! I'm using it now, but after you've completed the actions what's the next step? Do they remain in the folder? And do you clear the category?

[@Surface7Associates]

Thanks for your feedback! The functionality existed as Quick Parts in 2007.

[@Dankas10]

Excellent stuff! I'm Outlook user for more than a decade and by my opinion this is by far the most useful series of video clips about this subject I have seen. And now one question: What of that you presented in videos can be redone in Google Office tools (Gmail and Google Calendar) ?

[@Surface7Associates]

Danijel Kramarić Thank you so much for the kind words, and so glad you found it useful! GREAT QUESTION. Google allows for categorizing, folder creation, auto emailing .. but perhaps we here at Surface7 should get started on the Google version of this, huh? Great input!

[@WhatNow_IS]

This is just brilliant! Thanks for sharing!

[@Shakaka_]

Great video! Keep them coming! Is it possible for items to be sorted into sub folders once sent to the 'filing' folder. Is it possible to attach rules to the 'filing' folder only? Id like to keep emails in my inbox and have them sort into sub folders once sent to filing.

[@dryicepacks8683]

Hi Mark, Thank you so much for these videos! I have a question. How can I create categories when I have multiple email accounts. It looks like you can only do it with one as I see in your video. Perhaps it is a matter of settings, I hope that's the case. Thanks again.

[@EssaFlipasonic]

Very Informative. Thanks

[@Surface7Associates]

You're welcome. And please stay tuned for more

[@Kjng2009]

This is really helpful, thank you!

[@Surface7Associates]

you're welcome!

[@dryicepacks6358]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. In my Outlook set up I'm only able to see the cats in the Data File inbox emails and not in my Gmail or Yahoo accounts in that same Outlook.pst file....I hope that makes sense. I was forced to create rules to move a copy of all incoming mail to the data file inbox and it's been working, but I would like to do it from the account I'm working from. I guess having multiple accounts is not the way to go. Let me know if there is anything I should know, Thanks!

[@erikabarriga9181]

You are amazing, thank you so much. Saved me so much time, invaluable.

[@Surface7Associates]

So great to hear, more coming soon! :)

[@helenderbyshire3831]

How would you recommend handling the sent items? Leaving them or archiving them? Thanks so much I have found this so useful I am finally on top of my emails *****

[@dustinemrani]

This is exactly the type of help I have been looking for to help with my inbox! Thank you so much for producing this video. It has already immensely helped me out! I have one question. When I am in the .Action folder, is there any way to sort it by category, and then by conversation? That way I can view the thread of emails pertaining to that one issue, and then when I am ready to archive, i can click one and it will move all emails, just like the inbox. Thanks so much again!!!

[@Surface7Associates]

You are VERY welcome and thanks for commenting!! Interesting question! I will double check this as I'm not at my desk at the moment. I assumed you tried sorting by convo first, then right-clicking the column heading to sort by category -- but if it didn't work it seems it might mean you're imposing two conflicting sort criteria. If anyone else wants to weigh in, please do!

[@dustinemrani]

I don't believe I even have the option to do that. Yea I'm not sure this is possible for whatever programming reason they have. Hope to hear back though. Thank you again

[@florintarziu5443]

verry good- i have learn a lot

[@AniketGoel1]

This is very nice, thinking how to manage emails that are in sent folder. Take a case I sent a email to someone to do same task and want to track if the response is arrived or not.

[@piyushwarang1801]

U made it simple man

[@Surface7Associates]

Without knowing too much about the type of email and where they originate from, I'd suggest creating folders for specific functions (e.g., Staffing, Customer Service, Operations, Reporting, etc.) and then set up rules to filter and forward to those folders. Organizing "By Task or Function" instead of "By Manager" will be more reliable to filter, particularly when an email may be important to more than one manager. Hope this helps some. If you want to share specifics, pm me!

[@YuZhengwen]

Very informative, video! Thanks

[@Surface7Associates]

You are welcome!

[@hernanperez912]

Great video bro!

[@gbmmben]

Fantastic video, I am using Outlook 2013 and I can't find the categories button

[@Surface7Associates]

Is it possible you're using IMAP? If so, unfortunately you won't be able to categorize emails

[@phil.camanducci]

Awesome video You rock!

[@mychanneltoletyouknow]

thanks for sharing

[@Surface7Associates]

Thanks for watching!

[@alonariel8170]

great & helpful video!

[@ahmedabbas569]

Really many thanks for these very helpful points (Y)...

[@meganwhittaker9762]

You mention that you could analysis the time you spend on each category , can you still export this information using Outlook 2013 - would be very useful. Great video, almost how I've been using my email with a few addition tips :) Thanks!

[@mariaquintero6035]

Hi there! Thank you very much for the videos. Is there a way to add email templates to quick steps? So I can access them much faster. I work in an environment where I have to use the same type of emails over and over again.

[@Surface7Associates]

Maria Quintero yes, just follow the same steps as in the video, but select your template as the new email

[@xsite23]

Really great Video, I have directly apply it. Just one question, did you have organize the Inbox and .Action folder to sort also by conversation?

[@saravan2k5]

Excellent

[@Surface7Associates]

saravanan shanmugam Fantastic!

[@jasonroe1070]

Great tutorial!

[@amb1s1]

This is a nice tutorial. I'm an engineer and I usually have between two to three project at a time and beside email from those projects, I also have the regular emails. How would you do in my scenario?