January 8, 2015

The Email Trick That Will Change Your Life

How many of you open your email or look at your phone in the morning and are bombarded by 40+ emails that have come in overnight - with only a handful that are of actual importance? Are you nodding your head in agreement? Yeah, me too. C & C to the rescue. Today I'm going to give you an email trick that will change your life. 

A lot of the emails I get in the morning are news digests, google alerts, and others that I want to read at some point, but aren't at the top of the priority list. Unfortunately, my OCD personality doesn't let me tackle the pertinent email until I've cleaned out all the junk around it - not exactly the most effective use of time. So here's what you do. Create a rule for any email with "unsubscribe" in the body to be sent to another folder - for me, that's a folder within my inbox named "mass emails." That means, when I check my phone in the morning, my inbox is full of what actually matters - like that 6:00 a.m. email from my CEO (love waking up to those). I can access the "mass emails" if I want to by going into the accounts mail box and to the folder. Same thing goes on your desktop. It's still there, but doesn't stop you from focusing on what really matters. If there are emails you absolutely want in your inbox, in my case The Skimm and Politico Playbook, you can create separate rules for them to ensure they stay put. 

Here's how I did it (I use Windows 08 - but I'm guessing the process is similar with other operating systems). 

In Outlook go to Create Rule (it's easiest to click on an email that's one of said "mass emails.") Select Advanced Options. 


Select "with specific words in the body."


Click to type in "unsubscribe." 


Select "move it to the specified folder."


Select the folder (Note: you'll need to create it before you start this process. I'd suggest making the folder within your inbox so you know they're still new emails). 


Then select "Finish" and you're in business. If being more productive in 2015 is one of your goals, this trick is for you. Don't forget to let me know how it works! We love feedback! 

1 comment:

  1. As an IT project manager, I get emails from clients, developers, and internal staff which add up to a lot! I also have to make sure that my projects remain on schedule and any failure to respond to a timely communication can mean a project launch is delayed or an issue remains unresolved.

    What I have found works for me is to create a folder called Respond. The first thing I do every morning is scan all my messages in the Inbox and move those emails that need to be responded to over to the Respond folder. Then I delete the spam messages. I never use my work email for any personal shopping messages or communications so there typically aren't any. The rest of my messages get moved to client folders.

    After this step I have an empty Inbox. The goal each day is to empty the Respond folder by the end of the day. Once I respond to a message, the email gets moved to that client's folder. Throughout the day, as more messages keep filling the Inbox, I keep moving them to Respond or other folders as needed.

    A the end of each day, I always check the Respond folder. If i's empty, that means I have replied to all messages and I can leave the office knowing that I don't have any outstanding messages.

    I know everyone has their own way for handling message, but this is the one tried and true system that I have found is the easiest and most effective. My Inbox has remained empty for the last two years using this system and I rarely forget to respond to an email.

    Hope this works for some of you!

    Melissa

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