Another good way to manage list traffic is via inbox rules. Messages that come from a mailing list are quite easy to identify. Set up a folder in your inbox for the mailing list, and set up a rule that automatically sends any messages from the mailing list to that folder. It's pretty simple to set up, doesn't require a separate e-mail address (or annoying webmail), and makes listserv traffic *very* easy to check (just look in the folder and see what's there.)
I am on 3-4 listservs at work and they all file themselves neatly into folders in my inbox, which I check regularly for anything of interest.
Another tip which is more subjective in nature is to try and avoid feeling you have to read everything. For The List for instance I have a rul filter all the trafiic into a folder. However I don't delete anything as I iften find myself searching through the trafiic at a later date for tips on certain subjects (sure, there's the list archive,, but sometimes it's quicker to go through my local copy).
When I come into work in the morning I tend to whizz my eyeballs down the list of new posts looking for anything that may be of interest. I typically only read maybe 10% of the mail that comes in. After that I simply mark the remaining mail as read. This way the large amount of mail that comes in from The List is completely manageable - however it cam be difficult when one of new to a lit to get used to "filtering" - the temptation is to read everything in order not to miss something of interest :-D
On top of the tips that have already been mentioned I also have the mailing list messages organised by conversation. This makes it quicker to read subjects of interest as they get organized by thread. To enable this in Outlook 2000 you simply click on the folder you store your message list messages in, then select View -> Current View -> By Conversation Topic.
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two words: inbox rules.
Another good way to manage list traffic is via inbox rules. Messages that come from a mailing list are quite easy to identify. Set up a folder in your inbox for the mailing list, and set up a rule that automatically sends any messages from the mailing list to that folder. It's pretty simple to set up, doesn't require a separate e-mail address (or annoying webmail), and makes listserv traffic *very* easy to check (just look in the folder and see what's there.)
I am on 3-4 listservs at work and they all file themselves neatly into folders in my inbox, which I check regularly for anything of interest.
Eyeball filtering...
When I come into work in the morning I tend to whizz my eyeballs down the list of new posts looking for anything that may be of interest. I typically only read maybe 10% of the mail that comes in. After that I simply mark the remaining mail as read. This way the large amount of mail that comes in from The List is completely manageable - however it cam be difficult when one of new to a lit to get used to "filtering" - the temptation is to read everything in order not to miss something of interest :-D
Organize By Conversation Topic