Posted by Jan Wencel on Thu, Aug 19, 2010
A virtual organizing session Monday with one of my favorite entrepreneur clients, Lennie Rose, started with a confession. She told me she was "flagging herself to death."
As we scrolled together through her email inbox, I saw the hefty evidence behind her gloomy statement. We found a brighter story when we dug a little deeper.
Email Inbox Assessment
Lennie was not alone in storing loads of other items in her inbox than just newly received mail. Items (some opened, others not) requiring action and candidates for future reference were the two most popular kind.
There was also a pattern of half processed email. You know, where you open it...think, ugh, I don't want to deal with this right now...and then move onto the next email?
There were lots of unwanted emails. Subscriptions to newsletters she didn't read. Updates from social media sites galore. And, of course, unsolicited junk mail.
And then there were the flags. Lots of them. Some of them indicating tasks to complete. While most identifying email gold--the thoughtful notes from friends and fans, the interesting person/blog/product she'll want to find when the time is right.
Healthier Email Habits
The first inbox habit she decided to institute was to stop using the inbox to store reference items. (Many folks go further and decide action items go elsewhere, too.) The process of moving things to reference was made easier since she uses X1 to find things.
The second habit was to unsubscribe to things no longer valuable, to add repeat junk offenders to her blocked email list, and to permanently delete those she's too exhausted to unsubscribe from but doesn't want to ever see again. (Pressing shift while hitting delete in Outlook will do this automatically.)
The third habit was to process email all the way to the end. That meant if she opened it, then she needed to follow through all the way to the end...moving it to a reference folder, deleting it (yes, like most people, there were many emails clouding the inbox that simply needed to be deleted), scheduling it on her calendar, or leaving it in the inbox to indicate action needed.
What email habits do you want to shed? Or which are the ones you want to embrace?
Posted by Jan Wencel on Tue, May 11, 2010
That's right. A productivity expert (a.k.a. professional organizer) is suggesting that you not organize your email files.
Those Mac users already know why...but most PC users haven't had much in the way of motivation. Why? Because our search tools (especially pre-Windows 7) have been inadequate.
Introducing: X1.com...a paradigm shift for PC users into a world of Google-like search capabilities with a featherweight computer footprint.
X1 allows you to find any email or email attachment in seconds. (It can also search your Word/Excel/PowerPoint documents, calendar, contacts and photos.) It gives you a preview panel of its findings without opening a second application. And it performs more quickly than the free search tools. If you're a Google Desktop fan, you're going to love this more powerful and nimble tool.
Search results appear as you type, and the tool allows you to refine results on the fly without having to be a computer genius. (Although if you're the geeky type, X1 is going to be like a toy for you!)
We'll use this blog to demonstrate how we leveraged X1 so we could say goodbye to organizing email forever. If you want to join the revolution, you can download a free trial at X1.com. Once you decide to buy it...and you will...you can get a single license for $50 per year.
Stay tuned...
Posted by Jan Wencel on Fri, Jan 22, 2010
I'm working with an engineer in Chicago to help with an overflowing email inbox. Following are a few of the brave decisions he made to streamline and declutter:
- Subscribe to a one-folder archive system instead of organizing into email folders (I'll post more on this conceptin the coming weeks)
- Install X1 to find anything in the "dump" within seconds (I'll post more on X1 in the coming weeks)
- Check email fewer times per day--moving from 15-20 to roughly 5--so he can increase his email processing time and decrease interruptions
- Reduce the number of emails in his inbox--from a couple thousand to roughly 50 (or to only those from the last rolling seven days)
- He went through steps on his own similar to the ones posted here and got his number under a thousand with great determination, but relatively little time
- We'll work together to get him closer to his goal by establishing a task tracking system he can use to defer work & delegated tasks; he's considering paper planners as a possible solution
- Reduce the number of years of information sitting in Outlook by archiving a .pst file.
- Customize Outlook to perform routine tasks to his liking
What kinds of things are you doing to streamline email?
Posted by Jan Wencel on Tue, Dec 22, 2009
Our recent interview with Carol Roth prompted a re-run of this email managment tip...
You don't have to be a teenager to use email acronyms. Following are a few uses taken from Wikipedia. Use them to infuse more productivity into your work life...and to surprise those folks who think you're too old to LYAO:
END OF MESSAGE
End Of Message or EOM signifies the end of a message, often an email. The subject of an email contain such an acronym to signify that all content is in the subject line so that the message itself does not need to be opened (e.g., "Monday status meeting canceled (EOM)"). This practice can save the time of the receiver.
NO REPLY NECESSARY
No Reply Necessary or NRN signifies the sender doesn't require (or would prefer not to receive) a response. You can use NRN at the end of your email message or in the subject line. EOM can also be used in conjunction with NRN (e.g., "Confirming Tuesday meeting @ 11am (EOM/NRN)"). This practice can save the time of the receiver & the sender.
ACTION REQUIRED
Action Required or AR signifies the recipient is being asked to take action. (e.g., "Sign up for 8.22 GO System training (AR)," or "ACTION: Sign up for 2.9.10 GO System training"). This practice puts the receiver on the alert.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Thank You Very Much or TYVM signifies appreciation. EOM can also be used in conjunction with TYVM (e.g. "Got your report. TYVM/EOM") This practice can save the time of the receiver. The sender & receiver can also come to an agreement to omit thank you emails entirely. Quite a concept, huh?
Start using these acronyms today & watch your email processing time reduce.
P.S. If you send text messages text queries to Google & get their text responses back. Here's how:
- Start a new text message & type in your search query.
- Send the message to the number "466453" (GOOGLE).
- Receive text message(s) with results.
Examples: "thai restaurant 60563"; "score cubs"; "flight aa 2111"; "1 us pint in liters"; "map 900 n michigan avenue, chicago"; "movies 60611"; "weather chicago". More examples here. Be careful to use only when necessary...it can be addictive! |
Posted by Jan Wencel on Thu, Dec 17, 2009
Yesterday Carol Roth featured Life Contained email expertise in her piece Minimizing Unneccessary Email Responses. One of the fresh ideas included in the piece was the concept of including something like this in an email signature:
-------------
In an effort to save our most precious resource, time, I use the following acronyms. Please consider adopting them and sharing them with your friends and colleagues:
NRN (No Response Needed)
ORI (Only Respond if Issue)
NWT (Noted With Thanks)
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Another way to approach it is to program NRN and the like into AutoText so only a few keystrokes will deliver the full statement on an on-demand basis.
Thanks for the mention, Carol!
Posted by Jan Wencel on Thu, Dec 17, 2009
Our clients have been asking, "what should be on our resolution list this year?" We have one simple suggestion: COMPLETELY EMPTY YOUR EMAIL INBOX
For those of you who use your inbox as a storage place...
This may send you into a panic. Do not fret. You can do this.
Start by setting up two appointments: one in the near term & another in six months. In the first appointment delete by age, from the bottom, all the messages you know are extinct and you'll not need to reference. Then sort by author & delete all the messages from people you know you can eliminate. Next rank by file size & delete the emails with large attachments that you no longer need. The last step may seem drastic, but there are great rewards. Create a folder called "Expired Email." Choose a date to draw an imaginary line (I suggest no more than three weeks out), then drag all older emails into the expired folder. Any emails retrieved from the expired folder within six months should be incorporated into other reference folders. All others (no exceptions!) should be deleted during the second appointment you arranged for six months out.
For those who use your inbox as a to-do list...
We suggest you break this habit. Although more effective than allowing 1,000+ emails to pile up, using your inbox to prompt on-time follow up can lead to mishaps & doesn't allow for prioritization.
Start by setting up an appointment to create an action file to hold all the reminders you have. Then add reminders for tasks resulting from emails as well as other tasks you need to complete. (We've found the tried & true tickler file system works better than any electronic method or otherwise. If you don't know how to set one up, give us a call. We'll talk you through it.)
Ah...doesn't the email white space feel peaceful?