Greetings!

• Delete.  Simply delete emails immediately that do not need to be saved or that you don't  need to do anything with...why let them take up your valuable inbox space and add to visual clutter?
  
  
• Do It.  If it's an email that can be addressed in about 2 minutes or less, just do it!  It will be done and one less thing for you to stress about doing.
  
  
• Delegate.  Can the email go to someone else to be handled?  It's amazing how many items we get that don't truly pertain to us.  Delegate as many as you can to others.
  
  
• Defer.  If you have an email that takes longer than 2 minutes to address defer to another folder, not your inbox.  Most email programs allow you to make up folders to sort (just like a file drawer).  Mine is called "Action" and that's where emails sit until I can move forward.  I don't have to be overwhelmed my inbox each time I open my email program.  This is an amazing feeling!
  

And a few more incredibly helpful tips:

• Recognize that your inbox is your to-do list. Think of it as such and treat it as such.
  
  
• Get spam out of your inbox. If you don't have a spam filter, get one.
  
  
• If you are on an email list that is purely informational -- where messages never turn into "to-do" items -- use rules/filters to move the those messages to a subfolder. You can read them some day when you don't have anything better to do.
  
  
• Get off of as many email lists as you can. Will the day come when you don't have anything better to do than to read that mailing list? If not, get off the list. If you can't figure out how to get off the list, use filters/rules to send those messages to the trash.
  
  
• Save and reuse responses to questions that you get frequently.
  
  
• Use a signature line that contains all of your contact information to save time and allow people to easily reach you.
  
  
• Make your emotional tone is as obvious and explicit as you can.  Use formal language and end messages with No Reply Needed to discourage responses.
  
  
• Politely ask friends and family not to send you all the silly, time wasting forwards. This was the best thing I ever did!