I was hoping this article might help me. However, I already use some of these. Maybe I just need to refine and use them a bit more?

Inbox Zero: Five sneaky email cheats | 43 Folders

• The template
• The link
• The question
• The “I don’t know”
• The delete key
  (Ones I use in bold)

The template has been part of my arsenal for years now. The Outlook signature tool makes this useful without springing for plug-ins or dealing with MS forms. Since I do web design, I have made tons of FAQ web pages. Instead of re-typing that information, I pop into the message my tempate response which links to the appropriate FAQ entry. Responding to simple inquiries takes one minute not ten.

Deleting things is hard. However, I do delete pretty frequently.

I don’t like to say “I don’t know” too much. It would be a lot easier
to just say, “I don’t know”. I could do the “Do you still need this?”
more.

Another cheat I use is filtering. Perhaps too much so. I encourage customers who call or email me to use the appropriate online form. Results of those forms go to one of the folders under “to-do”. Bolded folder names with a number beside them warn me how many notices of certain types are waiting on me. Much easier than going through my Inbox for which are important and which can be ignored.