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Top 10 Email Productivity Boosters
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 2:00 AM on April 17, 2008
The first message one could consider email was sent more than 30 years ago, and that's probably when people began associating angst and uncertainty with the words "Inbox" and "unread messages." The tools available to read and send emails have advanced considerably since then, but what you actually do with all that chatter, without eating up entire days of work time, is up to you. Luckily, we've covered a wealth of filtering and processing methods and software tweaks that make email less stressful and time-consuming over the years, and a list of our top 10 productive email boosters is after the jump.
10. Mark/Prioritise messages sent only to you
If you're inside a big firm, or just part of a big email group, you probably get a lot of messages that aren't really addressed to you directly, but they land in the same bin as the others. Differentiate between need-to-see-it direct mail and group FYI blasts with colour coding, available in the settings for Outlook and Thunderbird, or the simple > and >> arrows enabled in Gmail. 9. Set up essential filters
Rapid-fire responses and inbox clearing get pretty old if you have to do them every day—the best way to actually knock down your over-bearing email is to figure out where it's coming from and place it where it won't bother you immediately. Using a strong set of customisable filters, you can separate needed information and tasks from repetitive reminders. Don't know exactly who should be filtered out? Use the Mail Trends tool to visualise your mail volume any way you'd like. (original Mail Trends post). 8. Master advanced message search (Gmail)
A big part of what sets Gmail apart from the wealth of other (totally competent) web-based email providers is its archive now, search later ethos—spend a little time once setting up persistent searches, and you won't have to spend time again digging through scads of messages to find the right one. Adam led us through Gmail's search functionality back when Gmail was still a new thing, but the lessons are just as helpful today. 7. Process email in batches
Sometimes we're our own worst enemies when it comes to email clutter. Sending "before I forget" messages on off hours, reading email when there's no time to act on it, and having loose reading and responding schedules all contribute to that feeling of being under a high-volume waterfall. Best-selling author Tim Ferriss offers his eight tips that help you how to keep email out of your evenings and weekends. 6. Retrieve a file via email:
If you're the type that leaves their email client open all the time, this trick could be a real neck-saver, or just a neat way to grab a file. Using a keyword and a filename, you can set up Mail.app on Macs or Outlook on PCs to send you your files. If nothing else, you might convince your co-workers that you have magic email powers, and perhaps dissuade them from ever spamming you with quintuple-forwarded "jokes" again—that alone should save you some time and groan-induced headaches. (Original Mac and Windows version posts). 5. Group and organise your contacts
It might sound obvious to some, but far too few people utilise and harness the power of contact grouping. Whether it's a project you're collaborating on, a group of in-the-know friends you regularly share jokes and videos with, or just a one-time blast email you're slowly adding names to, grouping is super-easy in Gmail, but Outlook and Thunderbird allow for nicknamed groups as well. Find your "Jokes" group almost going out to "Jon" the boss? Edit your auto-complete entries in Outlook with NK2View, or follow one Macworld editor's tips for avoiding mix-ups. (Original NK2View post) 4. Process/organise your email with a trusted system
Whether personal or professional, pressing or put-off-worthy, your email needs a place to go and not get lost in the shuffle or take up unnecessary screen, or mental, space. Gina's preferred system is a three-folder Trusted Trio, which she derived from productivity guru Merlin Mann's Inbox Zero theories, and both are mainstays of our thinking here at Lifehacker. But we've also taken a peek at other systems that might work better for some, including an Outlook-specific, folder-and-flag-heavy "Zero Email Bounce" and the baby-stepping Inbox 0.5. And if you believe your inbox and to-do list should operate in perfect harmony, you can't go wrong with Remember the Milk's Gmail integration extension for Firefox. (Original Zero Email Bounce post) (Original Inbox 0.5 post). 3. Never forget an attachment
Few moments warrant a forehead smacking more than getting an "I don't see the attachment" reply ... five minutes before you're about to board your vacation flight. Avoid such slip-ups with the Gmail Attachment Reminder Greasemonkey script, a similar Outlook attachment reminder macro, or just develop a system for never forgetting attachments. None are fool-proof, but they might slow you down just enough to realise QuarterlyResults.xls is not where it should be. (Original posts on Gmail, Outlook, and routine techniques). 2. Consolidate Multiple Email Addresses with Gmail
If you've read this far, you've likely realised we're pretty big fans of Gmail around here, but this hack is a great reason why. You can import mail from nearly any account into a common inbox, send and reply to mail from those same addresses, and generally put all your various email needs into one container, without having to send an address change notice to your entire contacts list. 1. Automate Common Phrases and Lines with AutoHotKey/Texter
Some emails represent a true expression of unique ideas and conversational exchange, but a lot of them are simply "Thanks for the link!" or "Call me with any concerns" and the like. Our own Adam Pash realised this, got busy with AutoHotKey and came up with Texter, a simple-but-effective means of pasting commonly-used text, code, signatures, and other lines into any space on your Windows desktop. Part of his inspiration was just how helpful keystroke-replacing AutoHotKey was in knocking down repetitive email, and it holds true for similar tools like TextExpander for Mac and Snippits for Linux. If you're a Thunderbird user who doesn't need system-wide text replacement, check out the QuickText extension. (Original QuickText post). What inbox helpers and tools did we miss? How do you keep your important mail close at hand without losing the less-important stuff? Share your tips, techniques, and triage theories in the comments.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
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youngheart80
Posted 3:04 AM 17/4/08
I LOVE the trusted trio, though my buckets are Action, Archive, and Hold. I was talking with a coworker the other day and he asked where I was at on a particular project. I pulled up my Outlook to get some references and he was absolutely astonished that I had nothing in my inbox.
More than that, he was amazed at how quickly I found the email I was after - I had just responded the previous day so I knew it was in Hold while I waited for a response.
But the funniest thing of all was when he realized that my emails were grouped by conversation, like in Gmail.
Man, I love Lifehacker.
youngheart80
x40sw0n
Posted 3:01 AM 17/4/08
I also wanted to mention that xobni [lifehacker.com] has been extremely helpful to me for managing my inbox. I frequently have strange attachments and rambling email chains involving highly technical and contractural obligations that I would have no chance of retaining without the management tools therein. My only gripe is that it doesnt support anything other than outlook so far (evolution would be highly desireable to me, but evo needs to stabilize a bit too I think).
x40sw0n
Mortimer
Posted 2:52 AM 17/4/08
I have one that goes in the useful filters. I label all incoming mails containing "let me know" so that I can see which one explicitly need a reply.
There maybe other sentences that would match too, I am just adding them as they come.
Mortimer
VizionQuest
Posted 2:35 AM 17/4/08
You left out one big one...the task manager for Gmail (a.k.a. RememberTheMilk) :-)
I've used, graded, and reviewed all the to do list applications and task managers listed below. You can see my full review here: ToMuse.com
RememberTheMilk
IWantSandy
Toodledo
Nozbe
Vitalist
SmartSheet
Todoist
Voo2do
Tudu Lists
Bla-bla List
RoughUnderbelly
OrchestrateHQ
Ta-da List
Tasktoy
VizionQuest
nad
Posted 4:32 AM 17/4/08
For Productivity Booster #6 -
On a Mac if you specify the path without a file name you'll get the folder's contents sent in a zip file. That's nice - as long as there aren't giant files in there.
nad
Posco Grubb
Posted 5:06 AM 17/4/08
Nice. I've used tips 10, 9, 8, 7, 5, 4, and 2. But I need to brush up and tune my filters.
For tip 7, when managing actual messages in batches: Sort by sender. Probably many messages from the same sender will get the same treatment (move to folder or BALEETED).
For tip 1, I don't use Texter, but I have canned responses in text files that are easily accessible via Launchy.
Posco Grubb
leungd
Posted 6:33 AM 17/4/08
I had a question; what is an efficient way to manage two email addresses (gmail, and a work email)?
Currently I use thunderbird to grab them into separate inboxes, and each have their own respective archive folders and such.
Do any of you guys have a more efficient way of managing two accounts? Would it be recommended to forward my work email to my gmail (I know a lot of my friends do this with their work email).
Thanks!
leungd
bitterrotten
Posted 8:15 AM 17/4/08
Does anyone know how, in gmail, I can filter emails between just my girlfriend and I? Everything I try just adds emails that my girlfriend and I are a part of, but not exclusive to.
bitterrotten
alainp
Posted 7:22 AM 17/4/08
Nice list, but it's missing the one (and only) tool that I now cannot live without to manage emails : the "Nostalgy" Thunderbird extension.
I allows for very fast processing of inbox : I read emails and move them to the appropriate folder without touching the mouse. With some experience, you can find the right combination of keys that will move (or copy) the current email right into the sub-sub-sub folder where it belongs...
Going from one folder to another is also done without browsing the tree of folders...
The only drawback is that, now that I have tasted Nostaly, I cannot switch away from Thunderbird...
alainp
michris
Posted 5:32 AM 17/4/08
I delay all my send mails with one minute. (outlook rule)
With this rule I can correct mistakes from hitting the send button to fast!
It is strange but the moment you hit the send button, you know instantly what you forgot or what mistake you made => This rule helps me a few times a day!
(this rule can help against : forgot to add persons in the to or cc list, forget to add attachements, things I forgot to mention, and so on)
michris
Torley
Posted 11:46 AM 17/4/08
I highly advocate text expansion too! I haven't used Texter (but am thrilled Lifehacker has their own exclusive line of fine software products), so I like PhraseExpress oodles. Whenever I spot myself typing something many times, e.g., "Friendly greetings!", I setup an abbreviation to automate it.
Also, another thing: if an incoming email is either (1) too short and incomprensible or (2) too long and incomprehensible (in that it'd consume a lot of time to read), ignore it - with the exception that if it's from someone you know and trust, send a one-sentence reply. For a very wordy incoming email, your response could be:
"Pardon, I don't understand and I'm crushed for time. Can you please summarize this for me? Thanks!"
Less time wading in efficiency is more time doing what you love.
@bitterrotten: Did you try adding a filter that uniquely includes both your and her email addresses? Or if you have a more complicated setup, perhaps include a very obscure keyword in each email correspondence and set the filter to search ONLY for that?
If you're not using Gmail's stars for other purposes, you could star your lovely convos together.
And there are other approaches, like setting up a special label. Best of hope! :D
Torley
AndyFromTucson
Posted 12:43 PM 17/4/08
@alainp: I am also a long time user of the Nostalgy extension to Thunderbird. I can fly through my inbox, filing messages in the right archive folders with an average of about 4-5 keystrokes per email, with zero mousing. I can also jump to any one of my hundreds of archive folders with about 4-5 keystrokes. Plus, I can keep the folder pane of Thunderbird hidden 99% of the time since I never need to use the mouse to navigate to a folder.
AndyFromTucson
nad
Posted 1:52 PM 17/4/08
@michris: That's an excellent tip! All email programs should have that option.
nad
ResQBrett
Posted 4:25 PM 17/4/08
@michris: Very good tip. I just did it.
ResQBrett
harmonius
Posted 9:25 AM 17/4/08
I like text coloring.
[fotochange.com]
harmonius
mwebert
Posted 12:41 AM 18/4/08
At work I often find myself getting asked the same questions again and again. To take some of the annoyance out of this situation, I set up a folder inside my email program which contains boilerplate responses to common questions. Now I can just forward these messages on or copy-and-paste their contents into new messages.
mwebert
mrs_helm
Posted 3:37 AM 18/4/08
The tips above also work for those using Lotus Notes (about 50% of corporate email users):
10. Mark/Prioritize messages sent only to you >> Look under Preferences for Attention Indicators. You can set both recipient and sender indicators.
9. Set up essential filters >> Use "Rules"
8. Master advanced message search
Go to your All Documents view. By default, you can already sort your messages by date, name, size, or subject.
If that's not enough, from the menu at the top choose View>Search Bar.Type in a term to search.
For even more flexibility, click More(in the search bar), Index your mail, and then you can search by date, or by any message field. You can even save your search and use it again in the future.
And of course in Notes you can also:
Batch process email (#7), create and group contacts (#5), or process/organize your email with a trusted system (#4).
#3 The "Never forget an attachment" code would be easy for your corporate developer to set up for you, and other people might benefit as well if this were added to the corporate mail template.
Your developer can also set up something to autosend files (#6) if it makes sense from a business standpoint. And you won't have to leave your machine and email up and running for it to work.
#2 In notes, multiple addresses (at your own company) can point to your Inbox. See your Admin. Corporate policy will dictate if they'll allow you to use Notes to access external email accounts, but that, too, can be done.
#1 AutoHotKey/Texter will work in Notes on a Windows machine as well. Similarly, Notes also allows you to set up stationery for messages you send over and over. (Windows not required to use stationery.)
mrs_helm
tina808
Posted 4:29 AM 18/4/08
3. Never forget an attachment
My system for #3 is that I don't even open or start an email the usual way if I'm adding an attachment. I find the attachment file first, then drag and drop onto my Mac Mail program, and the program opens and begins a new email with the attachment in place.
tina808
calvarez
Posted 5:54 AM 18/4/08
It's a tiny drop in the bucket, but I try to improve my email before it gets to me by practicing good email SENDING behaviors:
- Pretend this is the only email you can send on the subject
- Pretend (not a stretch!) that your recipient is reading your message on a tiny screen
and write accordingly - cover the who/what/where/why/how, use bullet points and whitespace wisely.
[www.cindyalvarez.com]
calvarez
jbabmb
Posted 8:37 PM 17/4/08
Some great tips here - I needed #3 so will try the attachment reminder!
jbabmb
bitterrotten
Posted 12:51 AM 19/4/08
@Torley:
Yeah. I tried to add a filter that uniquely includes both our email addresses. The problem is that gmail's search is inclusive; not exclusive. So if there is anyone else in on that email, gmail doesn't care and will rope it into the filter as well.
I thought about the obscure keyword thing but it's more of a work-around than a solution and it won't collect all the old emails.
Thanks for the help though. Maybe I can email google.
bitterrotten
xgravity23
Posted 9:31 PM 20/4/08
Am I missing something or does the "Gmail Attachment Reminder Greasemonkey script" not appear in Better Gmail 2? Why not?!
xgravity23