Use mail rules to sort email into folders automatically. Try to keep email you don't need to read immediately out of your inbox. Use mail rules to highlight messages sent only to you, or where you are in the to: section so that they stand out. Set up mailing lists for each project to make sorting simpler. Use auto archive to keep the size of your inbox in check. Make sure you have a search index set up so you can quickly find emails buried away in archives. Make use of the "tasks" feature to flag emails you need to respond to later.