Methods for prioritizing documents, such as email messages, is disclosed. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method first receives a document. The method assigns a measure of priority to the document, by employing a text classifier such as a Bayesian classifier or a support-vector machine classifier. The method then outputs the priority. In one embodiment, the method includes alerting the user about a document, such as an email message, based on the expected loss associated with delays expected in reviewing the document as compared to the expected cost of distraction and transmission incurred with alerting the user about the document.