Would you like to gain control of your email inbox and better manage your time? In Episode #89 of the Good To Know Video Series, Megan Harbin provides 5 Tips that will Save You Time, Help You Focus on the Most Important Activities and Reduce Your Stress! Watch the video to learn more!
— Transcript —
Did you know that the average person gets 121 emails per day? As a REALTOR, we know that you get bombarded with emails so your average is even higher. And, since we have our wonderful smartphones, it is easy to check your emails all the time. That’s a mixed blessing. So, how do you make sure that you are managing your time wisely and seeing the most important emails, not all the clutter, junk, and spam that you receive each day? Today, we will show you 5 steps that can help you gain control of your time and your email inbox.
We provide Office 365 accounts for all our Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties associates. Our focus today will be on Office 365 but the same concepts apply to Gmail and other platforms as well.
Tip #1: Check Email At Specific Times. Studies have shown that many of us suffer from “email addiction”, checking our inboxes 30 or 40 times AN HOUR! This cuts productivity because processing too many emails distracts us from the task at hand, since it can take about a minute on average for our brains to refocus on what we were doing before we were distracted. The best practice is to schedule a limited number of times to check your messages during the day. Turn off your email notifications on your smart phone. If people really need you, they will text or call you. You will have less stress and be more productive with the things that matter most.
Tip #2: Custom Folders – You can set-up custom sub-folders in your Inbox to organize your emails. To create a new folder, right click on “Inbox” then click “Create New Subfolder.” You’ll see a box appear with a cursor, ready for you to name this new folder. Name the folder and it will display alphabetically in your inbox subfolders. If you have folders that you access all the time, you can right click on the folder name and click “Add to Favorites.” You’ll see the Favorite folders appear at the top of your Inbox folders.
Tip #3: Create Rules – If you want emails to go directly to folders that you’ve set-up, you can create a rule for this. You can either go to the Settings gear at the top right of the page, or simply right click on an email and select “Create Rule.” With the right click option, a small window will appear, if you click “more options,” you will be taken to the full settings section. Click “All Folders,” then navigate to the subfolder you created where you want these emails to go. This is an option that you can set-up for emails from everyone pertaining to a specific transaction or for a specific client or contact. For example, if you want all emails from Announce My Move to go to a specific folder that you can reference later, you can do that!
Tip #4: Unsubscribe from Emails – We all get lots of emails from people or providers that we do not need or want. Just like cleaning our closet, we need to clean up our email inbox. Take some time to “unsubscribe” from the massive amount of emails you do not need. This will dramatically improve the quality of your emails.
Tip #5: Manage Your Clutter & Junk – Sometimes people send you emails that find their way into your Clutter or Junk folders. Many users simple delete these and may miss important messages. Remember that Office 365 is smart and tracks your email behavior to determine what is important or less important to you. It is a good practice to check your clutter and junk folders. When you find a message that is important in your Junk folder, just “right click” and select the option to “never block the sender’s domain.” This will move those messages back into your inbox going forward. Clutter is a newer feature for Office 365 that identifies less important emails from senders you already know. If you find important messages in Clutter, just select the email and move it to your inbox. That action tells Office 365 that this message is important.
These 5 Tips will help you better organize your inbox so you can work smarter. Give yourself the gift of time and less stress by scheduling email time, plus cleaning up and organizing your inbox a little every day. 2020 is going to be an exciting year and by staying focused on your top priorities, you can make it your BEST YEAR EVER!
Now That’s Good To Know!