Advanced Email Managment

If you suffer from severe email management issues, you have probably already taken the basic steps to ward off this malady. You are likely using spam filtering to keep the junk at bay. You have created folders to organize your messages. Your signature is automatically added to your messages to cut retyping time. Despite these efforts, your unread message count continues to mount. Time to get serious and step beyond the basics by applying advanced email management tactics.

Advanced email management starts with better email filters. Opening your email to find a list hundreds of unread messages can cause you to give up before you even get started. Using good email filters can help break the message list into something more manageable.

The most obvious filters to use are those that will separate out messages from frequent contacts, dropping them in folders or setting priority flags on them. Using this system, messages from the boss bypass the inbox and go straight to the folder labeled "unreasonable demands". A certain co-worker's latest message gets filed under "more dog pictures". This still leaves you with dozens of messages from clients, customers and new contacts.

Many of the remaining messages will bear cryptic subjects like "Regarding your widget" or "shipping problem". Some of are the moderate priority missives they appear to be. Others will be dry kindling waiting to be ignited by delayed action. Taking a trick from the automated voice response systems used by large companies can help douse these problems.

Many large voice response systems monitor customer calls for hostile words or specific phrases. Disgruntled mumbling (or screaming) boosts the call priority. Email filters make it easy to implement something similar for your inbox. Using filters that scan the body of a message for trouble words can help diffuse hidden time bombs.

Now that you have your messages sorted and prioritized, you still have to answer them. Form letters and templates are already your friends, but they can only do so much. The majority of your messages - especially those that are smoldering will still need that special spin only you can provide.

A close look at your sent items will reveal that while pieces of each response are unique, many messages still contain repeated statements. Opening phrases like "Thanks for contacting us about..." or "I'm sorry to hear you are having trouble with...". Not having to repeatedly key common sentences or even whole paragraphs can dramatically drop response times.

Text replacement tools provide the means to implement this time saver. Text replacement tools act as special form of short hand. Using one of the examples above, you would simply type a key phrase such as "greet1" or "apology1" . The text replacer program will instantly exchange your keyword with the full text.

Text replacement tools are available for all major platforms. In general, these tools are not specific to a particular email client. Windows user can use a free tool called Texter developed by Life Hacker. While not free, Mac users may want to give Textexpander a try.

Using a combination of keyword filtering and text replacement can be bring even the most cluttered inbox back under control. In order to keep it clear you will need to re-invest a little of the time these tools trim. Spending a few minutes every week to adjust your filters and phrases will keep your response times down and your spirits up.