- Become more productive by freeing up some time?
- Reduce your frustration and/or stress?
- Keep up with deadlines better by not having a too-hard basket in your inbox?
- Present a more professional image by not ignoring important emails?
- Reduce the size of your inbox easily and efficiently?
I have countless email addresses and five or six email inboxes, two of which I check regularly (my work Outlook one and my home Outlook). At home I get 10-20 emails per day, which is fairly manageable, but it's enough to require a system. The system described in my article on The Specusphere is not really all that new. Other people have written about similar systems on the web. Mine is adapted for my particular needs.
The important thing for you, when you're considering whether to use this system (or something similar) is to realise that "Do it now" is a timesaver when it comes to email and "Do it later" is a time-waster. Don't misunderstand me - I don't mean you have to action every email and every task it relates to as soon as you get it. What I mean is you need to DO SOMETHING with it as soon as you've read it. If you aren't going to action it right away, MOVE it to a folder called "To Do". This one critical piece of advice keeps you from having to re-read emails as more and more come in and ones you've put off move toward the end.
I hope you enjoy the article. And if you have an interest in fantasy, sci-fi or horror, why not take a look around The Specusphere website while you're there and register for our free email bulletins?
