In Outlook, it is often in your best interests to create rules that will send specific emails or types of emails into folders so that you can view them later. It helps to keep your Inbox clean and free of clutter, and groups emails of a like nature together for easy access and reading.
You can easily create a rule, either from a template or from scratch. For example, if you are a member of the popular mailing list Freecycle you may want to make sure all of your Freecycle emails end up in one folder together. It's as easy as adding the Freecycle email to your contacts, and then creating a rule in a few clicks:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/outlook-help/create-a-rule-HP005242897.aspx
Managing your email by using rules has been around as long as Outlook has been. Outlook can easily help you to stay organized and up to date.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/outlook-help/manage-email-messages-by-using-rules-HA010355682.aspx
If you can't find the assistance you need in Outlook by pressing F1 (help), Microsoft themselves are extremely helpful:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291608
Additionally, there is tons of help just a quick Google entry away:
http://voices.yahoo.com/understanding-outlook-rules-create-edit-and-492780.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Manage-Email-Using-Microsoft-Outlook-Rules
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000781.htm
http://www.cba.org/bc/practice_resources/main/outlook.aspx (you may find this one especially helpful as it's written for lawyers, so even a child of five could understand this [law humour] - someone fetch me a child of five!)
http://smarterware.org/4057/three-microsoft-outlook-rules-that-prioritize-your-email
And if you overdo your rules, create rules that conflict, create so many that they can't run, they're very easy to disable.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/outlook-help/turn-on-or-off-a-rule-HP005242975.aspx
If you ever want to get rid of all rules at once and start over, it's this simple:
Windows XP and older: Start > Run > outlook.exe /cleanrules
(note the space between outlook.exe and /cleanrules)
Windows Vista and newer: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /cleanrules
(note the space between outlook.exe and /cleanrules)
And as always, you can always ask me here or on Facebook, Twitter, or even LinkedIn.
