Overcome Email Overload

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

World Wide Webfoot Press Books Save Readers from E-Mail Overload

While electronic mail has been a boon to many companies, its dark side leaves many white-collar workers tearing out their hair. According to a study by Ferris Research, the average office worker now spends over two hours a day dealing with e-mail.

"It's unfortunate that people think they can't do anything about their floods of email," says Kaitlin Duck Sherwood, author of the Overcome Email Overload book series. "There is actually a lot you can do. Even something as simple as adding 'No Reply Needed' can cut down on the number of messages you get," says Sherwood. "You should not lose hope!"

An even more useful strategy, according to Sherwood, is to use tools called rules or filters. However, she cautions against the most common use of filters.

A lot of authorities advise using rules to file messages before you read th em," she says. "However, many people have a hard time keeping track of their active messages if they are spread across multiple folders."

Instead, Sherwood suggests using rules to assign incoming messages to categories, then sorting the inbox by category. "This lets you continue to use e-mail just as you always have, but now your messages will be organized. If you chose your categories so that they sort in order of importance, then your inbox will be prioritized as well."

Sherwood started writing about electronic mail in 1994. "I would get messages like, 'Help! I can send messages but can't receive them! What do I do?' I'd been using email for twenty years, so posted what I knew about writing email to the Web," said Sherwood. "My guide, A Beginner's Guide to Effective Email, has been extremely popular, so I naturally thought about expanding it into a book. However, I found that many people were so overwhelmed by incoming messages that they didn't have time to worry about outgoing messages. I decided I could do more good by showing people how to overcome email overload."

Sherwood is an international authority on email overload. She has been quoted in Wall Street Journal, ComputerWorld Canada, and iBizTips. Her articles have appeared in such diverse places as Administrative Assistant's Update and Real Estate Technology.

E-mail isn't the only medium where Sherwood has demonstrated leadership. She was the first dedicated webmaster for the University of Illinois, wrote one of the first Web interfaces to e-mail, and won one of GNN's Best of The Web awards for a virtual used car lot. Sherwood has written numerous magazine articles and hosted a community-access TV show, High Tech Heroes.

Readers can order Overcome Email Overload with Eudora 5 and Overcome Email Overload with Microsoft Outlook 2000 and Outlook 2002 at www.OvercomeEmailOverload.com or by calling +1-800-852-4890.

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Contact: Rebecca Robinson tel: +1-877-749-3357

Kaitlin Duck Sherwood
Last updated 13 August 2001.