Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 8; August 2006: A Handy Junk/SPAM E-mail Time-Saver

The great thing about leading programs on time management and personal organization all around the country is that I get to occasionally learn a few really good tips from the people that attend my programs. This month, I have to give a big “thanks” to Nancy from Boston for her e-mail tip that has become this month’s Timely Tip. It is a very simple tip that helps MS Outlook users deal with spam and junk e-mail in their inbox.

The tip is a simple tip to use whenever you receive a “junk” or “spam” e-mail in your Outlook inbox, especially for those messages that you are suspicious may harbor illicit content, malicious spyware, or possible viruses. Most of us have learned the “Double Delete” strategy (delete from inbox, then delete again from your deleted items box also, so the message is knocked completely out of your system and thus cannot infect or harm your system). This tip helps you “shortcut” that process:

Rather than hitting the delete key to delete the message, and then going into your deleted items folder to delete the message again, instead just hit the “Shift” and “Delete” keys simultaneously. This will completely eliminate the message from your e- mail account in one step. (When you do this, Outlook will ask you if you are sure you want to fully delete – just click “Yes” or just hit "Enter", and that message is GONE.)

If you are a user of other popular e-mail management tool, such as Lotus Notes or GroupWise, please let me know if a similar technique works for your e-mail system too. If it does, I will add the technique as an addendum to this Timely Tips posting on my web site.

Now, no more need to “Double Delete” – just blast those junk e-mails right out of your box once and for all!

Until next month, Stay Timely!