1 Don’t use your inbox as a catchall folder for everything you need to work on.

2 Create a “Five Weeks” folder that deletes its contents automatically after five weeks.

3 Assist colleagues’ inbox-filtering efforts by agreeing on acronyms to use in subject lines that identify important messages.

4 Send group mail only when it is useful to all recipients.

5 Ask to be removed from distribution lists that you don’t need to be on.

6 Traveling? Use your e-mail’s “out-of-office” feature.

7 When possible, send a message that is only a subject line, so recipients don’t have to open the e-mail to read a single line. End the subject line with , the acronym for End of Message.

8 Use graphics and attachments sparingly.

9 Put attachments larger than 5mb on the company’s Web site or intranet.

10 Be specific. If you send a 20-page attachment, tell the recipient that the important information is on pages 2 and 17.