Productive Email while Overwhelmingly Busy

I have more projects than one man can handle. While I used to love email for its efficiency, I began to fear it. I had so many emails that it just became an arduous process to reply to important ones. Until I devised this protocol, which has made my email life 500% easier.

I have tried many email clients but the best one for productivity in my opinion is Thunderbird. Here are some productivity tips to help you with mountainous volumes of email. I'll assume you've already downloaded Thunderbird. If not, do so.

Thunderbird has add-ons which alter its functionality. I'll explain my favorites and how I use them. QuickFolders add on gives Thunderbird a thin toolbar to place folders on. I place folders on that toolbar for people or issues I need to get back to right away. I then create filters or rules to govern my inbox which files emails to the correct folder. Thus, when I get an email from Joe Shmoe it immediately files itself in the Joe Shmoe folder which is on my QuickFolders toolbar. When a new email arrives into Joe Shmoe, the folder BOLDS itself and adds the number of unread emails beside it.
Immediately, I know when there is an important email for me to answer. I can immediately see it in the QuickFolders toolbar.

The steps are simple. 1.Install QuickFolders. 2. Create Folders for Important People and Issues. 3. Create Filters for those Folders 4. Add the Folders to the Quickfolders toolbar.

Another filter or rule which is very useful to me is a general rule I've created which files all emails addressed by someone not in my addressbook to a folder I've called Unidentified. It is important that this is the last filter or rule so that all the other filters work before this one. If another filter doesn't catch the email and file it and it comes from someone not in your addressbook, it moves to Unidentified and will most likely be unimportant.

These simple protocols allow me to quickly notice and reply to important emails while keeping my inbox empty. Almost always, the Unidentified folder is adverts and other unimportant stuff. It has saved me.

Other Add-Ons I am currently using:
GMailUI, Lightning, Provider for Google Calender, QuoteCollapse, Remove Duplicate Messages, Toolbar Buttons, XNote