Great article over at downloadsquad.com on keeping your inbox cleared and up to date. I’m trying to do this on both my work and personal mail, and at the moment it is mainly working. I had already employed most of the tactics myself, thanks to reading Getting Things Done (GTD), but it is a great refresher, and particularly if like me you are using gmail.
I think the only thing I would add, is that in the past I have been a sucker for mailing lists, and find I still get several I just file or delete. I would suggest turning off the rules for these for a week or so, look at each one that comes in quickly, and if you don’t need it any more, take the opportunity to unsubscribe. It helps with the cleaning up your act process.