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Tips & Tricks Busy Professionals Can Use to Simplify Their Lives Compliments of Ribary & Associates, LLC March 2008
SHRINK YOUR EMAIL INBOX FROM 100 EMAILS to 20 (Part 1 of a 2 part series) Next to paper, email is often the hardest thing to stay on top of. Hours can be spent each day mindlessly scanning email, but it still builds! The problem with a never-ending email inbox is that it’s easy to lose track of what’s important and what still needs to be dealt with. Questions to Consider 1. Do you use your email inbox as a record keeper? In other words, are you afraid to delete your email for fear you’ll need the record later? Are these “records” cluttering your inbox? 2. Do you use your email inbox to hold things that still need to be done? A "to-do” list of sorts? 3. Do you find important emails buried by the unimportant after only a few days? 4. Have you had too many scares of forgotten or unnoticed email? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you'll want to read on for useful tools on shrinking your inbox and increasing your level of service and sanity. 1. Utilize Folders Many of my clients have an issue with storing emails in their inbox. This contributes to clutter, lost emails, and wasting time looking at old emails over and over again. Don’t store all your emails in your inbox! Instead, create folders. Folders are the easiest way to sort your inbox, and practice good record-keeping. Use sub-folders for more detailed organization. For example, you might have a “client” folder with subfolders for each client name. You might create a “vacation” folder to hold all the emails for your upcoming trip. Or you might create a “reading” folder to hold emails you plan to read, etc. 2. Utilize Flags Flags are an easy way to sort emails that need an immediate response or action by you. For example, you may check your email first thing in the morning, but not be able to handle them before your a.m. meeting. Flag the most important emails (most email systems have this option). When you come back from your meeting, sort your email by flags, and deal with those first. In addition, many programs offer color-coded flags. So you might use red flags for urgent replies, green for research, blue for things to add to your calendar. Colored flags can also be a good option for prioritizing the reading folder. 3. Delete or Sort Emails Daily Sort or delete your emails on a daily basis, at the time you read them. That way you won’t be re-reading the same emails over and over. Extra Tip It’s a better use of time to check your email 2 to 4 times per day, rather than every 5-10 minutes. This allows for better focus and less distraction from other projects. I hope these tips allow you to easily reduce your inbox from 100 emails to 20! Because change takes time, I will provide additional tips in Part 2 of this series, so be sure to read your next Tia’s Tip! If you need assistance, Ribary & Associates helps clients with these types of projects every day. We'd be honored to talk with you about your needs. Contact tia@tiaribary.com. Wishing you endless success, Tia upcoming events Dress For Success Oregon: Annual dinner/fashion show fundraiser, "Celebrate Success," is Friday, April 18, at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 per person, or a table of 10 for $1,250. This dinner and auction helps support DFSO's work with local low-income women. Please RSVP by April 11. Reservations can be made on-line at www.dressforsuccess.org/oregon, or call 503-249-7300. Go Paperless Campaign - Support A Non Profit And The Environment! NW Natural is currently running a go paperless campaign and the Oregon Water Trust will benefit from it. Sign up for paperless billing and vote for the Oregon Water Trust (or another favorite organization)! Here’s how it works: Between March 3, 2008 and April 18, 2008, each current and new paperless billing customer can vote for one of four non-profit organizations to receive a portion of $25,000. The organizations will each receive a portion of the $25,000 based on the percentage of votes they receive from customers. Existing and new paperless billing customers can vote at nwnatural.com/pbnonprofit. It takes less than 5 minutes and makes a huge difference! (The NW Natural site has been having trouble. If you find it down, please check back.)
Women
Entrepreneurs of Oregon: Women and Achievement: The Real Story! Tuesday,
April 8th. What does achievement really mean? Is it all it's cracked up to be?
Is it worth the effort? Join award winning speaker and best selling author,
Kathleen Gage, as she explores the importance of thinking patterns and attitude
in both our personal and professional lives. For more information
click here. Our intention is to provide helpful information specific to an office environment, and at times we will provide other community or resource information. If you do not wish to receive future tips, please e-mail remove@tiaribary.com. Do you have feedback? We would love to hear your comments. Please e-mail comments@tiaribary.com or call 503-810-3794. |
