I get about 60 mails a day at work and 15 or so personal mails - a fair amount, but by no means unnusual - here's how I keep the email monkey off my back:

1. If a mail requires further attention and I don't have time right then, I flag it - Gmail's starring system or Outlook's flags both do the job.
2. I delete everything else as soon as I've read it. My inbox therefore only contains mails I still have to deal with.
3. I keep my deleted items for at least three months, that way I'm less scared to delete things as I can always get them back. It's amazing how rarely I need to though. :-)
4. I only have automated sorting rules for lists that never or rarely require action - chat lists, newsletters etc - I don't squirrel away potentially important mails in a misguided attempt to be tidy because if it's not in my inbox I probably won't read it for days.
5. Finally (my favourite tip) - in order to get some actual work done I disconnect outlook when I'm coding so that little envelope sys-tray icon doesn't distract me. Note "disconnect" rather than close - I still (unfortunately) need the meeting reminders :-(

UPDATE: Nowadays I leave outlook connected, but have turned off the notification icon. Same effect, but I don't have to keep changing outlook settings.

Labels: email, gmail, google mail, outlook