To organize my emails from classes, I use a several step process. I
have not found that filtering has been very useful yet for
course-related email, because there are no common elements for a filter
to recognize. Here's what I do:
All course-related email is put into my Inbox.
I quickly review the email to see if a quick reply will suffice.
If so, I reply immediately or at least as soon as possible.
Most course assignments as well as more difficult questions and
problems will probably take more time. When I determine that I
immediately move the message to a CourseToDo folder. There is a
separate ToDo folder for each course.
When I have more time to reply to these emails, I go through each
CourseToDo folder, answering the emails and giving feedback on the
assignments in the order in which I received them. (Your email program
will probably sort them in this order automatically anyway.)
As I finish with each one, I move it into its permanent home in
the Course folder with the overall Courses folder. I keep all course
emails for the entire semester in case a dispute arises about what
information has been sent and received. After four months, my email
program automatically compresses and archives the messages.
