Tag: email

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3 Helpful Strategies to Organize Your Email Inbox Today

Posted on by tracydee

Organize your email inbox: A little over three years ago I made the switch to a zero inbox and it was the best thing I ever did for my organizational skills. At that time I had had my personal Gmail account since about 2005 with thousands and thousands of emails. Instead of taking time putting everything into folders, I simply decided to archive it all and start from that day forward. Since I started a new job, I was able to keep my work email at zero inbox from day one.

Table of Contents

    Organize your email inbox: Here’s how I manage emails now to keep my inbox as close to zero as possible:

    1. Check email first thing each morning (after affirmations and to-do list) and before I close my computer from work for the day. By doing this, I can deal with any emails that came in before I started my workday for all the early birds who start before me, and then I can create a plan for everything left over at the end of the day.
    2. Check email at set times throughout the day. Now, I don’t always follow this rule perfectly because it depends on what I’m working on. If I need to focus on a project or task and I don’t want to be disturbed by emails, I close the tab and set my timer to check it once per hour or every 2 hours so as to still be responsive to the needs of coworkers, but not be interrupted by constant flows of incoming emails.
    3. I use the two-minute rule when dealing with emails as I go through them. This idea comes from the Getting Things Done method by David Allen. If it’s something I can respond to right away, I quickly send a reply and then file that email in a folder. If it doesn’t need a response, I file it right away. If it’s informational and a deadline is attached, but it’s not immediate, I use the snooze feature to send it back to me when it needs to be completed or responded to. If it is going to take a bit longer, I work on it during an email response period during the day.
    organize your email inbox
    Photo by Oleg Magni on Pexels.com

    Gmail tips

    So by the end of the day everything should either be snoozed, responded to, or filed in a folder. I rarely delete emails because I do frequently have to refer back to old emails for information and it’s very easy to find when they are in folders. I also use the search function in Gmail to find the emails that I need. For newsletters and subscriptions, I create filters that send the emails directly to folders so it doesn’t even have to come to my inbox. These are great ways to organize your email inbox.

    My personal favorite Gmail settings are to use the compact view with conversation view off. I like to see all my emails individually and conversation view confuses me a bit. Because I see all messages individually, I sometimes will only keep the most recent email in a thread and delete the rest because it’s not needed.

    And, to save me a little time, I have smart reply turned on so it auto-detects what I might want to say. It’s kind of scary how accurate it is. I also use Grammarly to check my spelling, tone, and grammar as I go.

    Organize your email inbox: Keeping my email organized and efficient has helped me to save time and communicate effectively!

    faceless woman using laptop while sitting on bed
    Posted in Goal

    Email Etiquette: 5 Simple Tips To Get Your Emails Opened

    Posted on by tracydee

    When it comes to email etiquette there are 5 simple rules that you need to follow. If you don’t follow these rules then it will be hard to get your emails opened. It might even make the reader think about unsubscribing from your emails.

    Use a more professional name as your email address

    If your email address is something along the lines of ilovecupcakes@email.com, it’s time to consider changing it. Not only can a more professional-sounding address save you the embarrassment of having someone thinking you’re talking about your love of cupcakes when you’re really discussing an important workplace issue, but it can also help people take you more seriously. If you want to be taken seriously by your boss, a potential employer, or even just an acquaintance, it’s important that your email address doesn’t give off the wrong impression. You don’t have to go with something boring. Just make sure your name is part of the address so that people know who they’re hearing from.

    Be concise and clear in the subject line

    You need to get your subject line right. If you think of the subject line as a headline, you’ll get the idea. You want to make sure it gets attention, but it also needs to convey the right information. Keep it short and sweet. The average person has an attention span of 8 seconds, so you don’t have long to capture their interest. In just a few words, they should know what they’re looking at and whether they’re interested enough to open it.

    If there’s anything that seems like it could be imperative or urgent in the email, put that in the subject line. At the office, people are judging whether your email is worth opening based on how much time will be required of them when they do so. If your email looks like it could be a quick yes/no answer, it will most likely be put off for later.

    Avoid spam trigger words

    This is one of the most important tips for email marketing. Don’t use spam trigger words. Use clear copy and avoid words used in spam emails. Some examples include: ‘free’, ‘discount’, and ‘money’.

    email etiquette
    Photo by Torsten Dettlaff on Pexels.com

    Be specific about why you are reaching out

    If you want someone to respond to your email, then you need to give them a good reason. If all you do is write “Hi” and ask them to check out your blog, they will probably not click on the link. The more specific you are about why you are reaching out, the more likely that person is to respond. For instance, if you’re reaching out to someone from the same town or geographical area as yourself, let them know at the beginning of your email.

    Or mention that you read their blog and felt inspired by something they wrote. Always include a call-to-action at the end of your email. This could be anything from asking for feedback on your own blog post to inviting them to connect on social media.

    Email etiquette: Avoid text speak in your emails

    As a rule, it is considered unprofessional to use “text speak” in your emails—that is, the abbreviations and shorthand that you might use when texting or chatting with friends. You probably already know not to do this in the subject line of a business email. However, sometimes it can be tempting to slip into this mode when composing your message. This is especially easy if you’re working from home and feeling more casual.

    Resist the urge! Even if you’re writing an email to someone you know well, it’s important to maintain professional boundaries in what you write. For example, instead of saying “LOL,” say “That’s funny.” Instead of writing “2day” for today, write out the whole word. And so on. There are plenty of other places for you to use text speak—just not in your business emails.

    Takeaway: Your emails will get more people to open and read them if you follow these 5 tips.

    Posted in Personal Skills, Time Management, Work From Home

    Using Gmail Efficiently: 6 Tips for Maximizing Your Inbox

    Posted on by tracydee

    I have been using Gmail for almost 20 years now. WOW!

    I try to keep my email inbox at zero or as close to zero as possible at all times. During the day, the emails that are still there serve as my to-do list of sorts. I work through at certain times throughout the day and make a plan to address it on the spot. I also do not like to have email on my phone.

    I find that I get distracted by the numbers and notifications and then I’ll read it and have to go back through it on my computer later anyway.

    I have several accounts for different purposes. Although many people prefer to sync all of their email accounts, I actually like keeping them separate. It helps me compartmentalize the different tasks I have to do whether it be for school, personal, teaching, or entrepreneurial endeavors. And by having a separate teaching email account, I never miss a student question or concern because it doesn’t get lost in the many other emails I get on a daily basis.


    Here are my top 6 tips for using Gmail efficiently

    1. Compact View with Conversation Threading Off

    I prefer the compact view the best in my inbox screen. I know a lot of people prefer to use the conversation view to group emails together, but I tend to get confused in threads and have to go back to figure out what was said.

    By using the compact view, I do not miss any comments on any emails that are sent because each one shows up separately in my inbox. The compact view is nice because you can see more emails at a glance since the space is reduced between each one.

    using Gmail

    2. Smart Compose On

    In the general settings, I use smart compose, grammar, spelling, and autocorrect. In fact, it’s kind of scary how accurate the smart compose is. It allows me to respond to emails faster because it predicts what I might say when I start a sentence. If I agree with the response, then I just click enter and keep typing the next portion of my email. I’ll all about ways to save myself time, but still write a quality and professional email response to someone.

    3. Using Folders

    Using Gmail, I go through my emails several times per day. Once it is filed or completed, it goes immediately into a folder. In my personal email, I have folders for advisory boards I serve on, billing information, doctor information, organizations I’m involved with, and much more.

    Pretty much any activity has its own folder and that’s where the email lives after it has been addressed. It makes it much easier for me to find things later and know that I didn’t delete anything.

    4. Setting up Filters

    This setting is helpful if you get frequent emails from a specific person or organization. You can create a label and a filter for that person. It can be color coded and make it easier to stand out in your email inbox. Once you receive an email that you may want to filter, you can click the three dots at the top and then choose how you wish to filter that type of email in the future.

    5. Schedule Send

    I love to use schedule send when I am trying to send an email that needs a response from other people. I tend to draft emails later in the day during one of my work time blocks. However, if it’s getting close to 4:00 or 5:00pm, I don’t send the email right away. I schedule it to send at 8:00am the next morning so that it goes to the top of that person’s inbox.

    Now they may have a great management system, but I’ve found that a lot of people have thousands of unread emails in their inbox and may miss things, especially if they are very busy. The other great use for schedule send is to give myself reminders. Even though I keep a pretty good list of action items in my digital app, it’s helpful when I have important reminders that I don’t want to forget.

    For example, I needed to mention someone’s retirement at a workshop and I scheduled the email reminder to myself to come up during the week I would be preparing the agenda. I have learned that no matter how much I think I’m going to remember something, it is much better to have a plan and be prepared than to rely on my memory of something someone said 3 months prior.

    6. SNOOZE!

    This feature is my ultimate favorite use of my Gmail settings for efficiency. It is especially useful for maintaining a zero inbox. When I go through my emails throughout the day, if it is something that I don’t have time or is not urgent to respond to, I will snooze it to the next day.

    Sometimes the emails are informational relating to an upcoming meeting later in the week or the following week. I then snooze it to the day I plan to review the agenda or that the information is most needed. Therefore, it stays out of my inbox, but it’s not filed in a folder yet because it’s still relevant.

    Let me know if you found any of these tips helpful in the comments!

    Posted in Personal Skills, Work From Home

    Email Tips: Strategies to Keep Your Inbox Organized

    Posted on by tracydee

    A little over three years ago I made the switch to a zero inbox and it was the best thing I ever did for my organizational skills. At that time I had had my personal Gmail account since about 2005 with thousands and thousands of emails. Instead of taking time putting everything into folders, I simply decided to archive it all and start from that day forward. Since I started a new job, I was able to keep my work email at zero inbox from day one.

    Here’s how I manage emails now to keep my inbox as close to zero as possible:

    1. Check email first thing each morning (after affirmations and to do list) and before I close my computer from work for the day. By doing this, I can deal with any emails that came in before I started my work day for all the early birds who start before me and then I can create a plan for everything left over at the end of the day.
    2. Check email at set times throughout the day. Now, I don’t always follow this rule perfectly because it depends on what I’m working on. If I need to focus on a project or task and I don’t want to be disturbed by emails, I close the tab and set my timer to check it once per hour or every 2 hours so as to still be responsive to needs of coworkers, but not be interrupted by constant flows of incoming emails.
    3. I use the two minute rule when dealing with emails as I go through them. This idea comes from the Getting Things Done method by David Allen. If it’s something I can respond to right away, I quickly send a reply and then file that email in a folder. If it doesn’t need a response, I file it right away. If it’s informational and a deadline is attached, but it’s not immediate, I use the snooze feature to send it back to me when it needs to be completed or responded to. If it is going to take a bit longer, I work on it during an email response period during the day.

    So by the end of the day everything should either be snoozed, responded to, or filed in a folder. I rarely delete emails because I do frequently have to refer back to old emails for information and it’s very easy to find when they are in folders. I also use the search function in Gmail to find the emails that I need. For newsletters and subscriptions, I create filters that send the emails directly to folders so it doesn’t even have to come to my inbox.

    My personal favorite Gmail settings are to use the compact view with conversation view off. I like to see all my emails individually and conversation view confuses me a bit. Because I see all messages individually, I sometimes will only keep the most recent email in a thread and delete the rest because it’s not needed.

    And, to save myself a little time, I have smart reply turned on so it auto detects what I might want to say. It’s kind of scary how accurate it is. I also use Grammarly to check my spelling, tone, and grammar as a I go.

    Keeping my email organized and efficient has helped me to save time and communicate effectively!