Base your Outlook rules on message headers for fewer rules

I use a lot of rules in Outlook to categorize messages I receive. Some rules are based on the sender's address, others based on words in the sender description, and others based on words in the subject. When I want messages based on all three to be marked the same category, I’ve been using three different rules. But I just discovered that “with specific words in the message header” is a broader category that includes a whole lot of information, including all those criteria I was using to organize mail. I was looking for a way to include messages sent “on behalf of” someone, mainly to catch messages sent on behalf of the same entity but using a different mass-mail e-mail address with each message. 

Use a duplicate contact to simplify changing Outlook forwarding rules in transitions

I use Outlook's rules to keep my e-mail nice and tidy. I also use them to make sure my assistant keeps updated on the goings on. Or I used to, anyway. And now I do again. And I figured out how to simplify updating those rules to make sure the next time I change assistants. I set up a duplicate contact, tell rules to send it to that contact, and change the e-mail address listed for that contact whenever the person changes. All the rules sending messages to that contact (now with a different address) will automatically change.

Make Outlook highlight important e-mail

My favorite productivity guru, Michael Linenberger, has a great post on setting up Outlook to de-emphasize or highlight e-mail messages as they appear in your inbox.