Being part of the world as we know it sometimes forces one into certain habits. Our grandfathers would be ashamed, our great-grandfathers would wonder, “wtf is email?” And yet, many of us – including myself – allow ourselves to be sucked into the trap of email UNproductivity.
I’d like to cover 5 methods I’m using successfully to stop wasting so much valuable time dealing with emails. There’s bound to be at least one that will help you become more productive.
1.) Unsubscribing from Newsletters and Lists
This could be a topic all it’s own – on top of that, I could go off on a rant about how I seem to always get an email stating how I’ve successfully been unsubscribed, when I swear I just clicked a box saying stop sending me emails. Ugh.
Most of us who are interested in a wide variety of topics across the web typically end up on dozens of email lists at some point. Some of these are from newsletters we initially wanted information from, some of them are from purchases we’ve made, or social networking sites we joined — but in my case, almost 90% of what comes in from these email lists is total junk to me.
My tip: Take a week or two to simply open up all these emails as soon as you see them, click unsubscribe, and be done with it. Most emails are simple to unsubscribe from, and if they’re not, they’re probably illegal emails. I think you’ll be surprised at how much your inbox clears up from just this one step.
2.) Using Filters and Folders
I’m a hardcore GMail user, and have dozens of filters setup to make things easy and organized. Sure, it takes a few minutes to set one up – but the long-term time saving from doing this can be priceless. Filters and labels in GMail is similar to setting up folders and rules in programs like Outlook – I have filters setup for receipts (from sites with certain subject lines I buy from frequently, like Amazon) – so I never have to sort these emails when they come in. If I ever want to review them, I just click on that label.
Another powerful way to use filters is to use auto-replies. GMail, for instance, has a “Canned Response” feature (make sure it’s enabled under Settings->Labs) where you can compose emails to automatically send to people based on certain criteria. This would be helpful if you’re responding to the same types of emails all day long. You could create canned responses based on keywords that would appear in the emails, and let the users know if this didn’t answer their question, that you’ll get back to them soon. You still need to go through these emails, but you’ll know if they’ve been responded to – and if the response should’ve satisfied the person, then you can simply archive it instead of having to respond.
3.) Scheduled Email Checks
This one has always sounded easier than it’s been in practice. I’d love to have 30 minutes a day I just do email and be done with it, but there are many people, including myself, who simply can’t get by with not checking email on a regular basis.
I’ve come to realize that my best case scenario is spending about 5 minutes per hour or so. Setting this up can be difficult for someone who lives in their inbox, but by using some of the other methods in this article, you should be able to get to the point where it’s comfortable. Of course, you could always setup a rule or filter to notify you of important emails. I do this by setting up a filter based on several criteria that forwards email directly to my cell phone.
If you can pull off checking email only once per day – by all means, do it!
4.) Use Only One Email System
Again, for some people this won’t be possible, but if you have several email addresses (I have 10 or so that I need to receive at along with 3 or 4 primary ones), you should have them all coming into a single program. GMail is perfect for this, or you can use many other programs like Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, or Mozilla Thunderbird.
I prefer a web-based mail application because I can access it wherever I am, as well as on my phone. I’m not downloading mail every time I open my desktop or laptop or work computer – it’s all right there, online, and ready to go.
You can setup POP3 accounts, forward your other mail accounts to your new primary email account, and setup different email addresses you can reply from in case you have private email addresses as well as business email addresses. I have one GMail account with 3 personal accounts and 12 business email accounts forwarding to it. I’ve setup all of these email addresses as possible replying addresses so I can send email using any of the email addresses.
5.) Skip Email Alltogether.
Twitter started a craze. People are communicating quicker than ever by using text messaging, Twitter, and instant messaging systems to communicate faster than ever. I’m not going to touch on IM services here, because I don’t think they’re a healthy alternative to email – they’re actually even MORE distracting, however there is one tool that I have noticed considerably cut down on the number of emails I receive.
Yammer.
Yammer is a Twitter-like tool that’s made for businesses and groups. I use Yammer to communicate directly to the marketing department I work with. These messages are posted to a private board that only other marketing department members can read. We can reply and chat about the topics in a way that’s just not as convienient with email. In fact, it actually makes us much more productive because now the entire team is automatically privy to all the important subjects being discussed.
Think of it like a big, limitless notebook that everyone can look at simuataneously all day long. It’s an amazing tool for businesses and small groups to communicate more effectiently. Using a tool like this for groups who regularly need to communicate can cut down on dozens or hundereds of emails. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Are there any other tools or advice you have to save time on email? I’d love to hear about your experiences!
