Start the New Year clear of clutter!

New Year, New Start… or isn’t it like that for you?  Does your desk and your computer still hold the clutter of the previous year?

Here are some simple things to clear the way for you.

Outlook’s .pst file continues to grow as you receive email and send email.  You can use the autoarchiving options and also work to clear out or delete unwanted items, but so many of us like to check back on something we said, or sent some months ago.  However, the file will continue to grow in size, so what to do?

I create a new .pst file at the beginning of each year.  How?  Simple.  Find your current outlook.pst file while Outlook is closed, rename it (I always add the year, i.e. outlook2010.pst) and then re-open Outlook. Because it can’t find the old file it will automatically create a new one.  From there I import my contacts and my dates (use the date filter option so you’re only importing from 1st January onwards) and I import emails that are about a week or two old, so I have some continuity from the old year.

Unfortunately the rules don’t import over although you can save a rules wizard file and then copy that over. But I don’t. I just start afresh, creating new rules and then sorting them alphabetically as they’re created.  I’m using Outlook 2003 (still) and it doesn’t do an automatic alphabetical sort.  Why do I sort them alphabetically? Because it’s much easier to locate a particular rule and edit it when I need to.

Outlook does automatically access all your email accounts so you don’t need to recreate those. And if you do need to look something up from last year, you can simply open that file up to look for it.

If only clearing your desk was as easy to do!  But don’t let it get too cluttered. Clear everything off your desk and only put back what you really need – your new diary, put away the old one. Sort through any desk files you might have and reading material – if you didn’t read it last year, will you really read it this year?

A fresh start to the New Year will help you feel clear, uncluttered and ready for work!