Sometimes, I think the universe assigns me these blog topics on purpose.
I run two businesses, have a few personal projects, and some social correspondence which means I check about ten different email addresses from one interface.
This can get a little overwhelming.
A few weeks ago, one of my friends helped me move everything into a Google Apps account which meant that suddenly, the kind of band-aid system I had in place became apparent because EVERYTHING was getting dumped into my inbox at once.
Tip 1: Make a generic Gmail for some purposes (you can have it forward to a spot in your real email that’s not your inbox).
One thing I’ve learned is lots of people have been spoofing my domain, sending email and pretending to be affiliated with Breaking Even.
One way to stop that (and to give your email a lot more street cred in the process) is to tell your domain which services you use to send email (ex: Mailchimp) and exclude all others. (This is kind of a technical thing but if you live and die by email like we do, worth getting it set up by a pro. Let us know if you need help; we know people who do this.)
But if like me you made accounts that send auto-updates (ex: automated backups in WordPress) with your usual email, then you are out of luck. I had to move these to a generic Gmail.
Switching things like this and online shopping accounts, etc. to a generic Gmail can filter the non-work (i.e. non-productive) stuff to another area before it even hits your work email.
Tip 2: Use Unroll.me or similar service to batch your marketing emails.
Unroll.me is a free service that connects to your email and pulls in any marketing emails. From the interface, you can select which ones go to your inbox, which ones get ‘bundled’ for a once a day delivery/processing, and which ones you want to unsubscribe from.
With over 1800 email subscriptions (many of which I swear I didn’t even sign up for), this has been a huge timesaver for me. And if you run a local business or non-profit, you can tell people about this and make sure your emails get in your customers’ inboxes (if they want them to anyway).
Tip 3: Use filters.
The easiest way to organize something is to organize how (and if) it comes into your life. With filters, I can have things from certain clients go into certain areas of my email, meaning I can batch tasks. Much more efficient than dealing with a mass pile of email looking for one particular thing.
Filters may seem like a technical thing to set up but most of the work is just deciding how you want to get information. Here’s how to create filters in Gmail and other popular services.
Tip 4: Templates are your friend.
If you’re like us, there are certain kinds of emails you get all the time:
- I want to be a member but I’m not sure. (for Anchorspace)
- What are your rates?
- I don’t know anything about X service. What do you do?
I have a Google Doc called ‘Email Templates So I Don’t Have To Rewrite Them All the Effin Time’. I never remember exactly what it’s called but I can always find it via the word ‘effin’ in search. (Whatever works for you.) Taking the time to thoughtfully write these once and use them over and over will save valuable brain time. Part of my template says ‘INSERT PLEASANTRY HERE’ which allows me to add a personal touch before clicking send.
Tip 5: Find your most soul sucking email task and see if you can automate it.
Is it sticking reservations into a Google Calendar? Scheduling meetings? Sending out weekly Google Analytics reports to the team? All these things can be made automatic.
For me, my email used to be a place of some excitement… and as it turned to more dread, I realized why. It was because I was spending an average of 7 emails to schedule a one hour meeting.
Then I got Evie and she schedules things for me, and it’s lovely. Point is, since I got rid of the thing I dreaded most in my email, it has become a lot funner of a place once again.
The thing you hate the most about your email may be something you can have automatically happen. Give it a shot.
Email is here to say; it’s part of all our lives and by helping get it under control, we can feel more organized about a lot of our digital lives.
More Resources:
Send emails later (or reminders) in Gmail with Boomerang
27 Prewritten Templates For Your Toughest Work Emails
Email Game (because we all need a little incentive)