I get so frustrated at my inbox.  It just keeps overflowing, falling off the desk and onto the floor.  I take it home with me intending to sort through and answer messages but IT doesn’t happen.  I bring it back to work with me intending to tackle the darn inbox right away, but IT doesn’t happen.  So, with today being Stroh Days and everyone local being involved in that, and it being too costly for others to drive just to sit/knit/chat with me, I’m tackling IT.  Thank you, Outlook, for some cool sorting tools.  So far, I’ve deleted 407 items, 47 of them unread.  I’ve moved 532 messages to an “A” folder; 397 to a “B” folder and 751 to a “later” folder.  This is just messages that need my attention in some way, not list messages to read.  I have 616 more to go in the inbox itself.  It is 3pm and I close at 4pm.  Do I start responding to the A messages or finish cleaning out the inbox?  I think since I’m in the cleaning mood, I’ll do the inbox.  I’ll take my computer home with me tonight and while Haley is cutting out her pattern, I’ll sit and respond to the A messages.  I think I can do that without being connected to the internet for the most part.  That will help cut down on the reply/respond/reply issue I seem to get stuck in.  

 I’ve recently discovered the flag system in Outlook.  That’s one cool tool too.  Now, things that have a time deadline, I flag with the red flag so it stays front/center and stares me in the face everytime I open the computer.  I’ve also started using PlanPlus for Outlook again so I can get back to keeping my lists of projects and get deadlines set up for the mailings.  I’ve missed doing this and my organization really suffers when I don’t have my calendar and todo list on me at all times. 

How do you stay organized?  Lea-Ann