Tuesday's Tip #16: Tips for Managing Too Many Emails and My Ultimate Guide to Mastering Outlook

Remote Learning...Now More Than Any Other Time

 Let's be honest - e-learning, remote learning, virtual learning, they've all been a thing for a long time. BUT, until we have a reason to learn remotely, a motivation to change and do it differently.....we won't and we don't.

Almost all of us are being challenged to work in new ways, in new environments, with new tools, with new office mates (can you say kids going to school? dogs barking?) and maybe even new hours. If we're being honest - it's hard - like really hard. We're not just working from home for a day - for some extenuating circumstance - nope - we have no clue how long we'll be doing this for. I don't know about you, but that's hard for me to wrap my brain around.

So, like it or not, you're learning new tools, in new ways for new reasons (baptism by fire?). 

So my recommendation is to take advantage of some of the extra minutes in your day to learn something. Something you've been meaning to learn, something you don't normally have time to learn, maybe something you've promised you'll be more productive in, maybe a program you spend too much time. Outlook is a program almost everyone can save time in by learning some new skills, tips or tricks.

Managing More Emails

If you're getting too many emails and find it hard to go through them and stay on top of your inbox, use these tips to manage which emails are critical and should hit your inbox and which ones should stand out and be responded to right away.

Have you noticed every single list you've ever been on is sending you a COVID-19 message? I'm getting messages from lists I know I haven't actively engaged with in more than 5 years. With more emails, you need more tools so you're not spending hours and hours just going through emails.

1. Does it need to be seen today? 
   Or could you safely look at it in a few days? There are a lot of messages in our inbox that are not urgent. Meaning - if we got to them within a week - it would still be timely. These are the messages we should identify and automatically file them to a folder to be reviewed weekly.

   Tip: Create a rule for messages that are tips, distribution lists, etc that automatically file to a folder you review weekly. Schedule time on your calendar to review these emails. (If I'm being honest - this email would be a perfect example.)

2. Do You Get Lots of Auto Responders?
   Maybe you're not sure what that means. If you get responses to meetings or out of office replies - all of those would classify as autoresponders. Many times - these are extra emails we don't even need, but at the least - we don't need them immediately. You can create a special kind of rule that finds these messages and files them (or even deletes them).
   

   Tip: Create a rule for autoresponders that automatically file to a folder for you to review later. 

3. Are you the ONLY person in the To field ?
   If there are multiple people in the To field, it's likely that you may not need to reply - and if you wait - maybe someone else will reply for you. But on the contrary, if you're the ONLY person in the To field, it might mean it's more urgent and if you have 50 emails - you might want to know which ones to reply to first.

   Tip: Consider coloring these emails using Conditional Formatting so you can see them and respond immediately.

 These are a couple of tricks that are included in my Ultimate Guide to Mastering Your Inbox course.

If You're Only Going to Learn 1 Thing....

With nearly everyone communicating from remote offices the communication, the number of emails and chats we're sending are more than double for most people. So - if you want to invest in learning just one thing. Master Outlook. For most of us, our only communication with customers, colleagues, clients etc - is virtually. So, take the time to increase your skills with my Ultimate Guide to Mastering Your Inbox and Control Your Calendar in Outlook. 

Outlook is the common denominator for almost all workplace users. Whether you're an actuary, marketing consultant, sales person, nurse or programmer - almost ALL of us use Outlook with a few exceptions. 

If you're an Outlook user - this is an awesome course for you and I promise you'll find productivity tips that will help you.

If you're looking to purchase training for your office - email me and reach out for special group pricing.