Overcome Email Overload with Eudora 5 Get Through Your Electronic Mail Faster Excerpted from Overcome Email Overload with Eudora 5, adapted for the World Wide Web. Copyright © 2001 Kaitlin Duck Sherwood

---

Contents

Testimonials, Copyright page (boring), Dedication

Preface

• Acknowledgments
• Characters and Places

Chapter 1: Introduction

• Who Is This Book for?
• Overview of This Book
• Eudora Versions
• Additional Material
• Notation, Terminology, and Simplifications
• Tips
• Quotes
• Examples
• Summary

Chapter 2: Organize and Prioritize Your Messages

• Group by Category
• Organize Your Categories
• If You Have More Categories Than Labels
• Order Your Mailboxes
• Eudora Filters
• "Real-World" Filters
• How to Organize Messages with Eudora Filters
• Importance of Filter Order
• Separate "To-Do" Messages from "Done" Messages
• How to Prioritize with Advanced Filter Actions
• How to Show Importance by (Not) Opening Messages and Mailboxes
• How to Make Importance More Obvious with the "Make Priority" Action
• How to Hear Importance with the "Play Sound" Action
• How to Keep Conversations Together
• How to Keep Conversations Together with Filters
• How to Keep Incoming and Outgoing Messages Together with FCC
• How to Test Your Filters
• Use Multiple Accounts to Group Messages
• Personal Accounts
• Junk Mail Accounts
• Summary

Chapter 3: Useful Filter Recipes

• Filter Order
• Example Recipes
• Notation
• Notes
• Find .EXE Files
• How to Quarantine .EXE Files with Eudora for Mac OS
• How to Quarantine .EXE with Eudora for Windows
• Adjust the Priority Level
• Lower the Priority Level of Multiply Forwarded Messages
• File Jokes
• File Mailing Lists
• File Confirmations and Updates
• File Frequent Correspondents
• File Messages from Coworkers
• Skip Messages from People You Know
• File Junk
• Blacklist Junk Emailers
• Aggressive Junk Email Filters (Windows Only)
• Default Filter: I Don't Know You
• File Related Incoming and Outgoing Messages Together
• Summary

Chapter 4: Move Around Your Messages Quickly

• Move to the Next Message Easily
• How to Move to the Next Message with Keyboard Shortcuts
• How to Move to the Next Message by Filtering
• How to Move to Next Message by Transferring It to a Mailbox
• How to Put Buttons in the Toolbar
• How to Make Toolbar Buttons with Eudora for Mac OS
• How to Make Toolbar Buttons with Eudora for Windows
• Quickly Mark Messages "Done" or "To-Do"
• (Don't) Mark Messages Done by Deleting
• Mark "To-Do" Messages Unread
• Open "To-Do" Messages in Their Own Windows
• How to Find Messages
• How to Sort Mailboxes
• How to Find Messages in a Mailbox by Typing
• How to Show Related Messages
• How to Find Related Messages Over and Over (Mac OS only)
• How to Make More Room on Your Monitor
• More Keyboard Shortcuts
• Summary

Chapter 5: Reduce the Number of Incoming Messages

• Reduce the Number of Junk Email Messages
• Reduce the Number of Mailing List Messages
• Mailing List Administration
• When to Unsubscribe
• How to Unsubscribe
• Switch to Mailing List Digests
• Switch to Announcement-Only Mailing Lists
• Switch to Moderated Mailing Lists
• Reduce the Number of Messages from Acquaintances
• Write to Discourage Responses
• Discourage Third-Party Discussions
• Send Fewer Messages
• Educate Your Correspondents
• Summary

Chapter 6: Spend Less Time on Responses

• Don't Respond
• Don't Say "Thank You" or "You're Welcome"
• Don't Respond to Junk Email
• Don't Answer Messages from Strangers
• Don't Respond to Mailing List Loops
• Look at How You Were Addressed
• Read All Messages on a Topic before Responding to Any
• Use Prewritten Responses
• Give Directions
• Respond to Vague Questions
• "I'm Busy"
• Responses to Mass Mailings
• Use Auto-Responders
• Notify That You're Out of the Office
• Dangers of Auto-Responders
• Summary

Chapter 7: Reduce Ambiguity

• Provide Adequate Context
• Quote the Previous Messages
• Make References Concrete
• Repeat Subject in the Body
• Ask Detailed Questions
• Say What Action You Want
• "Vocal" Techniques for Reducing Ambiguity
• Use "Intonational" Grouping
• Use Emphasis
• Summary

Chapter 8: Convey Emotional Tone

• Use Stand-ins for Gestures and Facial Expression
• Express Uncertainty
• Punctuation
• Short Utterances
• Express Urgency
• In Defense of Nonstandard Writing
• If You Think Someone Insulted You
• Summary

Chapter 9: Make Messages Legible

• Use Styled Text Infrequently
• Use Default Font
• Whitespace
• Make Web Sites Easy to Get to
• Punctuation
• Cut and Paste
• Long URLs
• Send Attachments Infrequently
• Word Wrap
• Understand Quoting Styles
• "From " at the Beginning of a Line
• Summary

Chapter 10: Get and Keep Attention

• Get Attention
• Get Attention with Subject Headers
• Signal Importance with Addressing Method
• Use Your Correspondent's Name
• Identify Yourself to Strangers
• Use Priority Levels
• Keep Attention
• Make the Message Easy to Read
• Make Your Points Easy to Find
• Raise Your Perceived Status
• Show Status Explicitly
• Summary

Chapter 11: Improve Your Company's Email Effectiveness

• Improve Resources
• Web-based Mailing List Interface
• Security
• Eliminate Duplicates
• Develop a Good Web Site
• Develop Corporate- or Department-Wide Responses
• Good Email Software
• Provide Alternatives to Distracting Messages
• Where Are Your Colleagues?
• Out-of-Office Messages
• Filters
• Confidential Material
• Messages from the Company
• Provide Training
• Signal Words and Abbreviations in the Subject
• Signatures
• Priority Levels
• Voice Instead of Email
• Response Speed
• Write Email Well
• Emoticons
• Set Policy
• Personal Use
• Illegal Uses
• Privacy
• Addresses
• Attachments
• People Who Circumvent Technology Channels
• Email vs. Telephone
• Summary

Glossary

Mailboxes and Labels

• Mailboxes
• Folders
• Labels

Index

Tips