Email is a powerful tool, but can also be a huge time waster.
The main problem with email, especially multiple accounts, is that you wake up each morning with a full inbox to sort through. You get on the computer, and there is is, staring you in the face, begging for attention. If you’re like me, knowing there’s unread email in your inbox can drive you crazy. So, you end up spending half an hour to an hour dealing with said email before you can even start work.
The second problem with email is the amount of rabbit trails one can follow as a result of checking email. The articles, feeds, offers, and notifications we receive could easily have us wasting an hour or two following each link, commenting, and sharing when what we need to be doing is working.
Since becoming a smart phone user, I’ve learned a cool trick that saves me lots of time:
Manage email from the cell phone.
First thing in the morning I grab my phone and check emails. I quickly delete any junk, scan items that seem interesting, answer quick questions, and flag emails that need attention later. Within 15 minutes all of my email can be sorted so that when I log on to my computer I can get right to work on my projects.
How do you manage your email? Do you have a set time of day to deal with email, or do you let it run your life?
Patty, that's my first step too!!! All the crazy sale-emails can really overrun an inbox. I try to keep those to a separate email address, which I only check from my phone, so they're not cluttering my main inbox. Still…
For my personal mail I use Multiple Inboxes from Gmail and scan multiple email accounts quickly.
At work, I set times in the morning to check the emails later after a quick scan. Some of them are answered during the day, when I am not too busy and the rest are dealt with at the scheduled time.
I agree about the domain.com point. My way of thinking is, I have my '@gmail.com' address, which I check. I then have my '@teenius.com' address, but all emails sent to that automatically forward to '@gmail.com'.
I just find that by using this method, I can just check the '@gmail.com' email. Then if I have emails in the other accounts, I can visit them. It just means, for example, I'm not spending a few minutes logging in to the '@teenius.com' address just to find that there's no emails.
Hope that makes sense?! :$
Gotcha! Yes, I can see what you mean. If you have to log into each one separately, having them all go one place would be a big time saver!
I agree about the domain.com point. My way of thinking is, I have my '@gmail.com' address, which I check. I then have my '@teenius.com' address, but all emails sent to that automatically forward to '@gmail.com'.
I just find that by using this method, I can just check the '@gmail.com' email. Then if I have emails in the other accounts, I can visit them. It just means, for example, I'm not spending a few minutes logging in to the '@teenius.com' address just to find that there's no emails.
Hope that makes sense?! :$
Gotcha! Yes, I can see what you mean. If you have to log into each one separately, having them all go one place would be a big time saver!
I’ve been using a pretty cool Email Management Solution which helps me manage my emails better – http://www.taroby.com
Check out their blog for more tips & tricks on Email Management http://blog.taroby.org
Sounds cool! Thanks for sharing and welcome to Erica Says!
I wanted to offer you a chance to guest blog here if you’d like! People love email management tips and I’d be happy to have you write about taroby.