Sometimes you need to get a new email address since one is full of spam, but don’t destroy it — use it for sites that aren’t important. I personally have three emails; one that I give out to forums, and sites like that, another for business, and a third for family.
This way I know that the forum email can get clogged with spam and I won’t care since I never really use it. I even have set up a false name and address for that email and use a dead cell phone number on it too, this way I don’t have to worry about people stealing my identity.
If I need to make transactions I use my business email for that, this one is my most active one, and because of that I constantly clean it out and keep it clutter free. I also use this for work.
One tip is if you use your “business” email to also look for work– don’t use a cute name, stick with your actual name and follow it by numbers. It looks more professional, if you use a ‘cute’ name they might not even look at your resume.
The family/friend one can have a cute name since only family/friends have access to it. This one is the second least checked account, since everyone has a social network page. This way you can keep all three lives separate your “Business”, “social/family”, and “Internet personality”.
About the Author:
Heather Green is a freelance writer for several regional magazines in North Carolina as well as a resident blogger for onlinenursingdegrees.org. Her writing experience includes fashion, business, health, agriculture and a wide range of other topics. Heather has just completed research onnurse types and clinical nurse specialist programs online.
Maybe you’ve become aware of the fact that you can’t seem to stop yourself from refreshing your Gmail inbox, your Facebook homepage, or your endless Twitter feed. Maybe you’re a student working toward your master’s degree, and you’re working full-time, too, to pay your way through school and you’ve come to realize your dependency on (or perhaps obsession with) the Internet. If you’re starting to think this sounds a lot like you, then maybe it’s time for an Internet detox.
At first it sounds scary. Even impossible. Maybe you’re genuinely perplexed when you begin to wonder how you ever survived before the Internet came along. Maybe you’ve taken after the “digital natives” and have forgotten what answering machines were for.
But we survived. Before the iPhone, we really did survive. And our minds were calmer then. The endless chatter of online communication — whether trivial or business-related — has removed many of us from the simpler life and led us to forget how to relax.
It is okay to take a break. You are allowed a break. You are allowed freedom. And it’s healthy to take a vacation from work, school, the “Twitterverse” every once in a while. Tell yourself you deserve it (because you do).
We live in a fast-paced world of technological communication where we are now able and expected to communicate with our coworkers, bosses, friends, family and community anytime, anywhere, 24/7; the Internet has morphed us into, if not workaholics, webaholics. So, as hard as it may be at first, it’s more important than ever to let yourself take a short-but-sweet vacation from your online responsibilities: to close your laptop, turn off your phone, and unplug your commitments for a while, to enjoy what you’ve probably missed out on for far too long: real life.
Emily Matthews is currently applying to master’s degree programs across the U.S., and loves to read about new research into health care, gender issues, and literature. She lives and writes in Seattle, Washington.
View this great online slideshow of 9 signs that you might be addicted to your Smartphone, composed by Dennis McCafferty of CIO Insight.
- Texting while drving a two ton killing machine?
- Withdrawel symptoms?
- Having to have it “always on?”
Have we missed any?
I’m sorry to be the one to have to tell you, but your system of marking emails Unread is just not working. How many Unread emails have you got now? Is it more than 10? More than 50? Or even – more than 500?! Well, I think you need some tough love – either you get control of your inbox soon or you’ll end up having to declare email bankruptcy.
So how can you get back in control of your Gmail account? Just follow this simple 3 Star System in Gmail:
Red Star: Response definitely required, ideally in the next 1-2 days. Examples: Confirming attendance at an event, replying about a job application.
Blue Star: Response not necessarily required and the reply can be sent any time in the next 10 days. Examples – chatting with friends, replying to a tech support response.
Orange Arrows Star: I associate the arrows with the play/fast forward button on a VCR and thus usually mark forwarded YouTube videos, photos of a friend’s kids etc. with this Star. Replying is optional to these emails as they are often mailed to both you and a bunch of others.
Finally, here’s how to set it up:
1. Go to your Mail settings
2. Make the Red, Blue and Orange Arrows stars ‘In use’:
3. Now all you need to do is stick to the system and email bliss beckons
About the Author
Duncan Murtagh is co-founder of www.GetVetter.com, an online employee suggestion box that helps managers get more ideas from employees. You can follow Duncan & Vetter on Twitter at @getvetter
The end of Daylight Savings Time is now and you know what that means: We’re losing an hour of daylight! (Argghh…)
Okay, okay, we don’t really “lose” an hour… but with the clocks being shifted back an hour it certainly feels like it. So, in response to the end of Daylight Savings Time, I’d like to propose that we begin Email Savings Time! This means that starting on November 6th, everyone reclaims an hour per day from their inbox by managing their email more effectively and efficiently.
I know at this point some people will say to themselves, “But Marsha, I don’t even spend that much time in my inbox. How can I even reclaim an hour per day from working on email?”
My answer is that most people don’t even realize how much time they spend on email. Here are the facts:
- On a daily basis, knowledge workers (basically anyone who works on a computer) handle an average of about 110 emails.
- They spend roughly 25 percent of their time working on emails and visit their inboxes 50 times per day.
- Over the course of a year, this adds up to 500 hours and 12,500 inbox visits per worker!
So with this in mind, let’s not lose an hour each day when Daylight Saving Time ends… let’s take back an hour (or more) with Email Savings Time. Here’s how to do it.
1) Check Your Inbox Five Times Daily (Or Less)
Shut down the entire inbox and open it a maximum of five specific times each day. In even the most demanding work offices, five inbox checks a day will allow you to open your inbox nearly every 90 minutes during an eight hour day. If someone needs something in sooner than 90 minutes, they should call.
2) Simplify Your Messages
First, make sure your writing is as clear and as concise as possible. Put the main points of your email in the first sentences and avoid abbreviations. Reduce back and forth emails by using “If/Then” statements and list a number of different options for your reader to choose from.
Second, pick up the phone more! Email is not a substitute for conversation. It’s a tool to share data. Before you click send, ask yourself if it will require more than two emails from you. If the answer is yes, pick up the phone and make the call.
3) Clean Out Your Inbox
The average worker gets about 110 emails a day. That means if you check your inbox five specific times a day you will have around 22 messages to “empty” each time. Emptying means that you delete each email or sort it into a folder where it can be easily retrieved later. “Empty” does not mean “work.” It means SORT! Using this method you will be able to triage and streamline your email tasks, saving you time and sanity!
By using these three tips, any knowledge worker can reclaim at least an hour per day and boost his or her productivity. And while your co-workers may have to stay late to finish up a project, you’ll be taking off from the office early, enjoying the daylight, and reaping the benefits of Email Savings Time!
Thoughts?
For those of us who remember when having just one e-mail address was a major stressor, the idea of having multiple e-mail addresses was once a prospective nightmare. Now, it’s normal to have two or more addresses: work and/or school, a personal e-mail address for friends and family, and perhaps another personal e-mail address for online purchases and more “public” correspondence. 
But sometimes, managing several addresses is complicated. Maybe you’ve accidentally e-mailed a coworker from your personal e-mail address, or maybe you’ve sent personal info to a friend from your work address. Whatever the situation, using multiple e-mail addresses can get a little messy—and finding ways to keep them organized and unmingled is important.
Protect your addresses
Be sure you don’t e-mail anyone from an address you don’t want them to have. If this means having to block a particular address from your inbox after you send them an e-mail by mistake, do it—and explain to them that in an effort to keep your inboxes organized, you’re restricting the addresses you allow to send mail to your inbox.
Keep your e-mails separate
This might seem like an easy enough task, but juggling several addresses can lead to some embarrassing—and potentially disastrous—mistakes. Clients like Gmail allow you to check several e-mail addresses at once, but the best way to avoid mixing e-mail addresses is to use each address’s separate website or user interface.
Create a “junk mail” address
As e-commerce becomes increasingly popular, people have begun to create “junk” e-mail addresses, which they use to sign up for e-commerce sites, newsletters, charity donations and other e-mail campaigns. If you do a lot of shopping online, or if you receive several electronic newsletters, consider creating your own “junk mail” address. This can be used for more than just junk, but it’s a great way to avoid clogging up your other personal e-mail addresses. This can also save you from receiving distracting e-mails in your work or school inboxes.
Make your own professional e-mail address
Having a neutral or professional e-mail address can save you a little confusion and embarrassment when you apply for employment, fill out school aid applications, or conduct any other freelance work or school correspondence. For college students and recent college graduates, creating your own personal e-mail domain can be a great way to make your e-mail address unique and professional—a recent IT degree graduate can use her personalized e-mail address to attract potential employers. Both Yahoo and Google sell domains and allow users to personalize e-mail addresses for small business and personal use.
Schedule e-mailing time
It’s an approach several people use in order to maintain their productivity throughout the day: checking e-mail only during certain times of the day, or only responding to e-mails near the end of the day. This can also be used to handle several e-mail addresses: read and respond to your work and school e-mails during the day and your personal e-mails in the evening or at a time that’s more convenient for you. For students, this can be a good way to separate their day into digestible bites: by concentrating on studying and classes instead of checking e-mail, you can avoid distraction.
Tips like these can save time and help you avoid awkward exchanges. And the more organized you can keep your inboxes, the less stressful your e-mail experience can become.
Thomas Stone is a content-author and contributing writer at Technected.
Here is my argument “pro” e-hoarding is unhealthy: Either comment below or join the commentary at Business week here or at http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/
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You say, “So what?” to hoarding gigabytes of mostly useless information. I say, “Get real.”
Information has never been easier to acquire. E-mails fly across the world in milliseconds. The average worker fields more than 100 every day, and you say e-hoarding is healthy? Is clutter healthy?
E-clutter, which results from e-hoarding, is costly, both mentally and monetarily. We have the same capacity to digest information as our forefathers, but the amount of information zinging its way into our lives is increasing exponentially.
According to the research firm Basex, information overload costs the U.S. economy a minimum of $900 billion per year in lowered employee productivity and reduced innovation. It adds time to normal tasks and creates stress.
A recent survey by the technology market research firm Radicati Group reported that “the typical corporate e-mail user sends and receives about 105 e-mail messages per day.” That is a lot of e-mail to process, categorize, or store. Sorting through old messages and rummaging through our in-boxes like we’re after the Holy Grail strips hours from each day.
Additionally, the anxiety that goes with having to scavenge through thousands of pieces of information, hoping that you’ve responded to all your e-mails, can be overwhelming.
Here’s what it all comes down to: The more you save, the more you have to sift through. The less everything is organized, the more time you’ll waste and the more stressed you’ll become.
Organize your e-clutter, trash stuff you don’t need, and free yourself to work on what truly matters.
To see the “con” side of the argument, click here. And leave a comment!
Let’s remember the two minute rule. Take the number of items you have in your inbox and multiply that number by 2. That’s the maximum number of minutes this project should take you. Then, set aside uninterrupted time to start working on your inbox.
This practice is actually a great way to help you get acclimated to the new way you will handle your inbox. If you have a very large amount of items, it may be useful to break this project into a few different time slots. BUT… Don’t stop the project until your inbox is totally clear!
NO. NO. NO. That’s extra work. That will create another email to handle. If you want or need to save an item that you sent, go into your sent mail, as soon as it is sent, and do whatever you were going to do with that blind copied email.
Here is today’s e-mail management tip:
Turn off all dings and flashes.
You have got to stop interrupting yourself, and the best way to do it is to turn off the dang dings. You should choose when you go in to get your e-mail messages, just like you choose when you go to your Postal Service mailbox to pick up your mail. The continual interruptions of those flashes and things are more toxic to your productivity than you know. Turn them off and see how much more work you get done… Then, let us know!
What is your best e-mai. management productivity tip? Share it here..
