Like many, I sometimes suffer from Outlook inbox "overflow-itis". That happens when you take a look down at the number of the messages in your inbox and see that it’s over 100! This many emails is overwhelming for sure, because I know I need to somehow deal with all those messages. As someone who likes productivity software, one that caught my eye was SpeedFiler by Claritude software.
SpeedFiler is an add-on that boasts a speedy way for you to file away messages in your inbox as well as filing your replies to a corresponding folder automatically every time you send one.
I mentioned SpeedFiler a few months ago when it was in Beta. However I didn’t try it because I already have a lot of Outlook plug-ins loaded and as a result my Inbox will crash frequently. I thought if I added another plug-in, Outlook would definitely be doomed. Well, curiosity finally got the best of me and I installed it anyway.
I am happy to report Outlook did not crash as a result of testing SpeedFiler. It is a very stable add-on. There are no slow downs to report with the exception of launching Outlook, it does a quick 10 second scan of all folders it uses.
The way it works is it sits up in your toolbar. You can file a message by either clicking a drop down arrow in the SpeedFiler toolbar. The drop down will list about 10 of your last – most recently used, folders to choose from. Or you can use a shortcut key combination (ctrl+y) if you want to make it faster.
If you don’t see the folder you are looking for, all you have to do is choose the "File-In" option or (ctrl+shift+V) and start typing the name of the folder. By the time you’ve typed a letter or two, SpeedFiler will have found your folder and is ready to file – just hit the enter key and you are done. This is where doing routine filing is much quicker than dragging and dropping or hunting one down using the Outlook default finder. See picture below:
One other feature of SpeedFilder is it almost forces you to become more organized with your emailing habits. It will file emails as you send them to folders you choose so you’ll have a clear reference of where to find both your sent and received items in a particular category. For instance if you have a "Boss" file you can file not only his or her emails to you, you can easily file your responses to them in the same folder.
In the picture below, you can see how you choose the folder before you hit send and your sent email will automatically be filed:
If you forget to select a folder to file your outgoing email in before sending, it will remind you. SpeedFiler will pop up the folder list after you hit send and then you can choose the folder after the fact, or simply delete your response if you don’t think you’ll need it later. It almost forces you to become more organized. After using it a few days, I felt like I needed to add more folders to my personal folders file because it was so easy to file emails to the granular level. You can file based on people’s names, a project, or subproject or just file using a more general folder. But why use just a general folder when it’s just as easy to file using a very specific name or subject?
It isn’t difficult to learn to use it. All-in-all, it took only a few minutes to get in the swing of things and do some serious filing. And before I knew it my inbox was clear.
The only thing I would like to see added to a future version of SpeedFiler is for when you are replying to a message. I’d like for it to file both the message you are sending as well as the original at the same time. If it did that, it would save me the step of going back to my inbox and filing the original.
Pros:
Fast and easy to use way to file emails
Almost "forces" you to be more organized
Stable Outlook plug-in
Cons:
Short delay launching Outlook while it scans folders
Discount and more information: You can download a trial version of SpeedFiler here. It costs $19.95 to register, but I’ve worked an exclusive deal where they’ll give 15% off to Achieve-IT! readers who would like to register (Note: it expires March 16th at midnight). Just use the coupon code AC187 when ordering.
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{ 3 comments }
Brad – Just saw your commments over on the LifeHacker site. If you’re interested in trying out ClearContext, I’d love to hear what you think about the product. Drop me a line brad at clearcontext dot com to discuss further.
Best Regards,
Brad Meador
ClearContext
I’m still amazed that people insist on storing their email in multiple folders. I understand it, but I’m still amazed.
A couple years back I took the leap and switched to archiving all of my email in one single folder. I use Lookout (now discontinued but still available for download) to search and life has never been better.
http://www.lookoutsoft.com/Lookout/download.html
I do maintain a folder called “Holding” but that’s for things that are in process and require follow-up in a day or two, otherwise everything else is in my Archive folder.
A single archive folder makes my semi annual purging much easier too.
I use Lookout too. But here’s the main reason I sort may mails into different folders…Sometimes Lookout doesn’t work!
Ok, maybe it works, but not in the way I need it to. For instance someone asks me about something I sent them 2 years ago. We know the general ‘gist’ of the subject but I can’t think of any keywords or search terms. The only solution is to go through the folder and “AHA! There it is…we were talking about Jello Pudding..how could I ever forget?”
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