E-mail can be one of the biggest time wasters in our modern world, and although this has probably been said a million times before, the fact that it's still a problem today shows that we can't seem to deal with it effectively no matter how many tips we've read and advice we've received. So, we're writing today to share with you some of the things that we do to help organize our mail and get through all the clutter.
- Gmail
We use Gmail because it's simple, but offers a lot of features that are really useful. For the longest time, we used e-mail clients like Outlook and Thunderbird, but they all seem to be buggy in some way or another, don't synchronize well with other computers, and require a lot of technical expertise to get the most out of them. With Gmail, you just sign up and use it — no special customization necessary! We also love how Gmail uses labels instead of folders. Sometimes, you'll find yourself with an e-mail that would fit into two or more folders — for example, an e-mail from a client about a project that also contains billing information. With Gmail, you can add a "Project" label and a "Billing" label with no problem, but with the conventional folder method, you'd have to make a copy of the e-mail for each folder that you want to put it in.
We've used Yahoo mail and Hotmail/Live mail before also, and while they're OK, they just don't compare with Gmail in our opinion. Oh, and if you don't want a @gmail.com address, you can use your own domain instead. Our cottagecollections.com e-mail addresses are hosted by Gmail, and it's much more reliable than the service provided by most hosts.
- Filters
Most e-mail clients let you apply filters to your incoming mail. What this means is that when you get an e-mail from a specific person or with certain words in the subject or message, you can automatically have the e-mail sent to one of your folders, marked with a star, or many other things depending on your mail client. We have many e-mail accounts, and instead of checking them all individually, use filters to automatically label them when they come in. For example, We regularly receive newsletters from sitepoint.com. With filters, those newsletters — along with many others — are given a "Newsletter" label, regardless of the account they were sent to. E-mails from our Cottage Collections clients also have labels, but of course, we check those right away :)
- Canned Responses
We often find ourslves answering similar questions in many e-mails, and it can be a frustrating trying to remember what you told someone else. Luckily, there's a "canned response" feature in Gmail (and other clients as well, I'm sure) that lets you save a response, give it a memorable name, and include it in any future e-mails. Now, when someone asks for instructions on how to clear their browser cookies, a reply just takes a few clicks! The problem is remembering to save the message as a canned response — one of these days remembering will be second nature.
- Keep Your Inbox Empty
When filters don't take care of organizing you mail for you, it ends up in the inbox. Most experts tell you to check mail only at specific times during the day and to resist the urge to read mail immediately. Unfortunately, that just isn't possible with some businesses (like ours). Some e-mails need an immediate response, so when they come in, we have to read them. Here's how we handle that.
First, skim over the message to get an idea of what it's about. If it's something that can wait until later, star it, apply a label, and get it out of your inbox. If it has to be addressed right away, address it, reply to it, label it, and get it out of the inbox. You see the part about "getting it out of the inbox?" That's important! Once you start leaving mail in your inbox, you've messed up your whole organizational system. And eventually, you're going to have to go through all of that mail that has stockpiled and figure out what to do with it. It's best to spend the few extra clicks in the beginning than waiting until it has become a monumental task.
Well, that's our advice and how we, personally, choose to handle e-mail. How about you? What tips or "lessons learned" can you share with us?
