Archive for email
CONTROL Information Overload – Resources
Posted by: | CommentsThis is where technology comes in – you knew it had to actually help in controlling the mess it creates.
The first area where technology can help tame the beast it has unleashed is the Internet. Figure out what search engines will give you the information you need — there are plenty of specialty search engines out there (for example, SearchEngineWatch offers a few and SearchEngineGuide has dozens). So, when you need to do some research, you’re able to hone in on the information that is most relevant to you. Use Favorites/Bookmarks to go back to useful sites. But, don’t just add a site to your Favorites list and forget it. Organize them. Create folders and subfolders so you have some hope of finding the site again. There are lots of search tools available that go beyond the standard search engines. Some are software solutions, some are vortals (industry-specific portals with links to lots of sites of interest to that industry), some are sites that will help you search, and more.
The Internet lets me have that just-in-time information. I don’t need to keep nearly as many reference files as I once did. Years ago, I had the wonderful experience of throwing away about 10 feet of magazines. It was such a great feeling. I realized I had access to all that material on the Internet.
The second area where technology can help is the use of email filters and rules. Most of us get at least dozens (some get hundreds) of email messages a day. You can use filters and rules to manage these messages before you even see them. You can have junk mail deleted automatically, messages redirected to specified folders, and messages color-coded based on the sender or subject. You can also filter, redirect, or color-code based on the recipient. So, you can use different email addresses for different purposes. For example, if you want to get newsletters but want to read them when it’s convenient to you, not necessarily when they come in, just use an address for them and have Outlook redirect them to a reading folder.
A third area is through the elimination of paper. Although I still get paper magazines, when I find a story I want to keep, I go the magazine’s website and save the article on my computer (making sure I copy the web address as well for reference). This lets me eliminate the paper, search for articles with specific keywords, and cut and paste quotes without retyping. One of my projects is to scan in some of the paper documents I have so I can gain those benefits with existing paper information.
A fourth area is critical – have all of your contact information in a program that helps you with follow-up (a contact manager like ACT! or Outlook, etc.). These programs let you have all the information in one place, a way to make notes about your dealings with the person, options to write them (paper, fax, or email), create reminders for follow-up, and lots more. If you’re using Outlook, look beyond the first tab on the contact record. You’ll be amazed at how much is there. One of the common casualties of information overload is timely follow-up. These programs help you stay on top of that follow-up.
Finally, I don’t know anyone who manages information overload better than Jeff Davidson. His website, BreathingSpace, has tons of resources (and he really does walk the talk).
What tools and practices do you have to help you with your time management? How can you improve? What are your biggest stumbling blocks?
Improve Your Outlook, pt 2
Posted by: | CommentsContacts
“When in doubt, right-click.” This is my favorite piece of advice. When you right-click on a contact record, you are one click away from creating a new message or having Outlook call the contact for you (assuming you have a modem connected to your phone line). You can also set reminders and assign categories.
Another useful feature is being able to put links to files I’ve created for that contact. Just click in the Notes section, click on the Insert menu, then choose what you want to insert. If you want to attach a file, choose Attach File and browse to the file. You can click on Insert and it will put the file into the contact record. Or, you can click on the down-arrow on the Insert button and choose Insert as Text or Insert as Hyperlink (the option I would normally choose so I can just have a link to the file).
Calendar
While I could spend an entire article on the calendar features, I’ll offer just a couple of my favorites. First, I use color-coding to quickly see what kind of appointments I have scheduled (right-click and choose Label or Categorize depending on your version). Take advantage of the names of the categories, not just the color. Then you can change the view to By Category (from the toolbar) and see how you’ve been spending your time. When I had my business I used a Billable category and this let me quickly see who I needed to invoice.
Tasks
Once you get to know me, you’ll learn I simply don’t function without a deadline. Unfortunately, some things need to get started before the last minute (although I try to see how few really do). For those tasks, Outlook’s Start date (in addition to the Due date) comes in very handy. But be careful, by default Outlook sets the reminder for the Due date (sort of defeats having a Start date if you ask me).
One major problem with the tasks feature is there’s not a way to break a task into sub-tasks. The simplest way I’ve found is to start each sub-task with the same words referring to the main task. For example, if I want to do several things to update my website, I’ll start each with “Update website.” The Outlook add-on from Netcentrics has created custom forms to add this functionality.
Notes
The notes feature is probably the most-overlooked in Outlook. I love it. I use it to keep up with all the little bits and bytes of information and ideas that come my way. The best part is since it syncs with my iPhone notes, I can make notes when I’m out and about and then get them on my computer when I’m back in my office.
For more tips and tricks, updates, add-ins and tons of other useful information about Outlook and all of the Microsoft Office products, go to http://office.microsoft.com.
Well, there they are. A few features to help you improve your Outlook and hopefully improve your business in the process. As always, if you have any questions on how to do any of this, please contact me.
Improve Your Outlook,
Posted by: | CommentsImprove Your Outlook, Improve Your Business
With email so critical to business, Outlook is probably the first program you open and the last one you close each day. Managing all those messages, along with all the other bits of information and tasks in your life, can be maddening. The good news is you can use some often overlooked features of Outlook to achieve your goals, manage your time, organize your information, and improve your business. Here are a few of those features. You don’t have to learn them all, just what will have the biggest impact.
My favorite feature is using reminders to keep up with messages involving responses I’m not ready to do yet. Just right-click on the message and choose Follow Up, Add Reminder. Then I get to hit the Snooze button endlessly when the alarm goes off!
One of the most common problems I see the Sent folder has thousands of messages—making it almost impossible to find a message. You can change a setting so all of your replies are saved with the original message (if you first move the original message to a folder and then reply). Click on Tools, Options, Preferences tab; E-mail options…button, Advanced e-mail options… button, and put a check next to In folders other than the Inbox, save replies with original message.
A feature that comes in very handy for me is Edit Message. Sometimes, instead of replying to a message, I need to call the person and discuss the issue. I still want a record of my response, so I open the message, click on the Other Actions menu then Edit Message, and then type my notes about the phone call. I save the message and have my record.
If you’re like me, there’s more than one time when you click on the Send button and realize a glaring oops. So, one feature I actually turn off is to send an email message immediately. Click on Tools menu, Options, Mail Setup tab. Un-check Send immediately when connected.
If you’re a fan of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done,” there’s an Outlook add-on that adds a toolbar, custom forms, and more from Netcentrics.
In the next post, I’ll look at the other features in Outlook that I rely on every day.
What are your favorite Outlook tips?
Think of email as a postcard
Posted by: | CommentsOnce you send it, you have no control over who sees it. Be sure what you say, and how you say it, can stand up to public scrutiny and a lawsuit. Don’t send a hasty e-mail message if it could possibly contain any offensive material. Be certain of your facts. Be careful of expressing opinions, particularly opinions you would not want made public. Be very clear and concise when typing your subject—many people receive so many e-mails, they use the subject lines to decide if they’ll read the message at all. Stick to one subject per message. And, keep it short.
Reuse and recycle
Posted by: | CommentsIn the last post I talked about ways to reduce your stress and efforts. In this one I’ll look at a few of my favorite ways to reuse and recycle text and information.
Never retype. I scored a –3 (yes, a minus 3!) on a typing test one time so typing is clearly not my strong suit. So, I never retype. Use copy/cut and paste. It works within a file, between files in the same program, and between programs. For example, if you see some text on a web page you want to keep, just paste it into your word processor. I keep Word open when I am surfing the Internet and frequently cut and paste.
Use features like AutoText and templates to store frequently used text or files that are only a couple of clicks away. For example, if you have a form letter you send out, make it a template. Then, just add the person’s name and address and it’s ready to go. If you use your contact manager for this, you can have that letter printed in about 10 seconds. One way you can do this for email is to create different signature files with the messages you send frequently (a signature file can contain anything, not just your signature block).
A simple adage is enter once, use often. In other words, reuse and recycle. One way to do this is to use contact management software if you spend any time at all writing letters or email messages, making phone calls, or doing tasks that are associated with people. I used ACT! in my business and now rely on Microsoft Outlook. There are others as well. These let you enter your contact information once and use lots of times in different ways. They will also keep a history of all you’ve done. For example, in ACT! if I have to write an email, with a couple of clicks the word processor opens with the person’s name and my signature block. All I have to do is type what I have to say. And, it puts a note in the history that I wrote that message. Do you frequently mis-dial phone numbers like I do? Instead, with one click, ACT! asks me which number to dial, dials it, and pops up a screen for me to make a note of why I called that person and the results (left message, completed, etc.). These two features alone can save minutes to hours if you write a lot of letters/emails or make a lot of phone calls.
What are your favorite ways to reuse and recycle?