When we think of ways to innovate and make things easier and more efficient in our everyday personal and professional lives, there’s a temptation to look for shiny new solutions that promise life-changing improvements. Yet, as tempting as finding a brand new tool can be, it’s often just as useful to figure out how we can get more out of the tools we’re already using. A case in point is email.
And if you think innovation in email is impossible, take a look at Unroll.Me, which is an app that scans your email inbox for subscription emails, compiles those emails, and enables you to do a one-click unsubscribe from any unwanted emails. So, with the understanding that—at least when it comes to email—you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks, let’s explore seven ways to get more out of your email.
1. Folders, Folders, Folders
Email folders are an exceedingly simple way to organize your emails, yet few people use them because they’re not aware of how useful they can be. And even among those that do use them, there’s a lot of improvement that can be made to the way those files are structured and used on a daily basis. Lifehacker suggests a simple combination of three different folders, the Follow Up folder, the Archive folder, and the Hold folder.
Emails in the Archive folder are for reference but they don’t need a response or action. Emails in the Follow Up folder should be emails that require information from someone else before response or for issues that are not time-sensitive. As you may have guessed, the Follow Up folder is for emails that require an immediate response. Once this is all set up, get in the habit of sorting emails into these folders as you receive them.
2. Install Unroll.Me and Use the Roll Up
There’s no email inbox that can’t be significantly helped with the addition of Unroll.Me. This app is available for download on the Google Play or App store. The way it works is by scanning your email inbox for subscription emails which it then compiles into a single email. From there, you can unsubscribe from any lists you’d no longer like to receive emails from. The subscription emails that are left over will be compiled in what’s called “The Roll Up.”
In this way, you won’t need to sort through dozens of subscription emails. Nor will you have to go through the tedious process of unsubscribing from any unwanted emails from lists that you signed up to. Unroll.Me takes care of all that for you in just a few clicks.
3. Don’t Obsess Over Checking Email
Part of getting the most out of our email is not allowing it to take away from other tasks. To avoid being in a constant state of distraction, don’t check your email too often. Depending on the nature of your job, of course, certain email may require more immediate responses than others. Rather than setting a hard and fast rule for everyone, it’s more realistic and useful for you to carefully consider how often you truly need to check your email. Once you figure that out, you can define a system in which you periodically check your email rather than allowing yourself to be distracted by each notification as it comes in.
4. Create a Slot in Your Schedule for Email
A good way to stay in line with the third way to get more out of your email is to create a defined time slot in your schedule to deal with any emails that come in. Adjust this tactic to your work preferences. For some people it may work best to set this time aside in the afternoon while others may make email the first thing they do when they arrive at the office. Either way, the important thing is to isolate the time you spend dealing with email.
During that time slot, you can properly file your email, unsubscribe from anything you don’t want using Unroll.Me, and respond to any emails that require your immediate attention. In this way, you’ll remove the distraction of email from the rest of your day. Plus, by setting aside time, you can better commit to proactively keeping your email inbox organized.
5. Use Other Channels
An instant messaging platform such as Slack is great for informal, quick questions that can be answered in a few minutes or posed in a group setting. By using Slack, or another service, with your fellow colleagues you can avoid overcrowding your email inbox with too many minor questions and answers. Of course, this will help you keep your inbox open, but it will also make it easier for everyone else to control inbox overload which will make email more effective for everyone.
6. Take Care of Spam
Services like Unroll.Me help you get rid of those pesky email lists you subscribed to that don’t seem to go away but spammers who send you email without your permission also clog up your email inbox. Make sure to mark anything that comes from an unknown source as spam so that your email client can recognize that type of spam in the future.
7. Don’t Be Afraid of the Phone
Email is just one tool of communication and even with helpful apps like Unroll.Me to make email even more effective, sometimes you need to use other tools. So don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and talk to whoever you’re trying to communicate with via email. This can be very effective if you need to describe something complex or sensitive.
You’ll end up saving a ton of time explaining your ideas verbally rather than struggling to write them out in an email that may or may not get read by the recipient. Moreover, some problems require that you talk through them with someone. In which case, doing so over email will be less productive than talking it out over the phone.
Want more on Unroll.Me? Visit their website, or read our last article here!
