Like most of us today, e-mail is a key communication avenue that sometimes can get out of hand. Like phone calls, you can't always respond immediately to the caller. If you receive an e-mail message in Outlook and you don't have time to respond to it immediately, but want to ensure a timely response, you can easily add it to your calendar and schedule a block of time when you will be able to reply. This tip will keep you on track and ensure you don't miss an important contact.

To use this tip follow the instructions below:

1. Simply drag the message from your Inbox onto the Calendar icon on the Outlook Bar (on your left hand side bar)or onto your Calendar folder. This will create a new appointment item.
2. Enter the date and time you want to reply to the sender and specify any additional options or notes that you want to cover. (Note: The entire text body of the e-mail message is automatically added to the appointment for future reference.)
3. Click Save and Close to add the appointment to your calendar.

Outlook will automatically notify you when it is time to respond to that e-mail.

Special Note: You can also drag other items between all Outlook folders, including your Inbox, Tasks, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, and so on. For more options while performing this tip, right-click before you drag.