If you let it, email can take over your life. Or, you can choose to be in charge by taking control of the volume, content, and importance of your email.

1. Filter it! To limit the time you waste reading junk emails and spam, you could use a filter program. This is a system that weeds out emails based on subject lines and content. They can be effective, but use caution. They can filter out too much. Some filter programs will put the questionable messages in a separate folder, which you can review. Of course, that will take some discipline on your part to view the messages periodically and ensure that nothing important was trapped.

2. Determine when to unsubscribe. If you subscribe to numerous newsletters, quotes-of-the-day, etc., take the