Q. I answer my e-mail several times a day, and delete spam, but it still feels like I'm drowning. I need to take more drastic action, or I'll be working nights to handle the growing flood. Is there a way out? — Florence V.

A. You're right to take further steps; we're all struggling with wordy, unwanted messages. Today’s busy people find that e-mail is faster, easier, and cheaper than traditional mail. Last year, an estimated 1.4 trillion messages were sent from North American businesses alone, according to research firm International Data Corp. More and more employers are realizing that setting up tough rules for deleting e-mail not only saves costs, but helps employees be more productive.

There’s a simple method that will allow you to cope with increasing amounts of incoming e-mail: Control what you receive and control what you send. With incoming messages, don't become overloaded—keep the inbox empty. In other words, clear out incoming e-mails before they pile up too high in the inbox. Delete most of them, file some of them, but above all, get them all out of the inbox before they really begin to pile up.

If your employer hasn’t already done this, suggest they install software that automatically deletes messages every 30 days, and blocks junk mail ("spam") and specific kinds of attachments. You can also take direct action by limiting the number of e-mail lists you’re on, and personal emails you receive. And there are many more actions you can take to survive the flood:

Phone First

Face-to-face communication is still best, then the telephone. You can speak faster than you can type, so try phoning first. Leave short, clear messages that say why you called, what decisions you need, and why and when. Say when you can answer the response personally. Some people set a specific time each day to place and receive calls, and another time to place and receive e-mail messages.

Cut Words

Use the fewest words possible. What else do you need to say than, "I like Model 242 B better. It'll save more time and money than the others. Let's buy it." If your message is more than two sentences long, phone instead. Or talk to the person live. In your subject line say, “URGENT REPLY NEEDED BY ___”

Get a Mobile Device

You can buy portable e-mail devices for about $150 you can use with almost any telephone line. (Check out products on mobilemania.com). Some products will pick up overnight messages you can often handle on the way to work (not while you're driving!) on your cell phone. Use the time waiting for stoplights, jammed traffic, or expressway access to handle the easy messages. (I once counted 14 stoplights on the way to work—each taking about 30 seconds to change. That's seven minutes each way, 14 minutes a day, and nearly 1 1/4 hrs. a week. You can handle a lot of e-mail messages in that "down" time. Use the mobile device when you're waiting for meetings to start; while you're on telephone hold.

First In, First Out?

Some people like to handle e-mail in the order it arrives. Better: handle messages you know are top priority. If the message is clearly uninvited and unwanted, scroll down to the bottom to unsubscribe or take your name off the list.

Use Prepared 'Remove' Message

Prepare and save a short, but polite and clear message that asks the sender to remove your name from the distribution list:

“I’m drowning in e-mail, so please don’t send me any messages that I don’t have to take action on. Thanks for understanding.”

Don't Hunt for the Message

If you can't spot the main idea of the message in the first sentence or two, save it for later.

(For your e-mails, put your purpose—especially any action you want taken—in the first sentence.) Prepare and save another polite but pointed message for people who send confusing messages: "Hi John—I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. Your e-mail wasn't immediately clear, and I had to put it aside to put out some fires. When you’d like me to act quickly on something, just summarize what you need at the start of the message —then I can respond faster."

Don't Schedule Meetings

Unless all employees have an interconnected software program designed for meeting setup, don't plan meetings using e-mail. You'll waste time playing mail-tag.

Set Limits

Let people know that you want only urgent messages sent e-mail-and stick to your rule. Anne Zehren, publisher of Teen People magazine once told her staff not to e-mail her unless it was urgent, and used her "out-of-office" reply tool. When she got back, she had 300 messages, and deliberately deleted them all. Nothing bad happened, proving, she says, that nothing was urgent.