With Neil Godin (invite me to connect with you via LinkedIn)
What? Email Over Load. If it isn’t a problem for you, then you’re probably retired on an island somewhere, and you’re not actually reading this article. For the rest of us, EOL is real. It’s the monster that moves in every morning (and throughout the day) and makes a mess of our priorities and our efforts at time management. But there is help. Chances are you already using the technique I’m going to share with you today to control EOL. But, if not, then now is the time to start.
Why? We actually want to receive ‘more’ email, not ‘less.’ I know, I find this hard to believe as well. But think about it… I’ve joined ten different LinkedIn groups so far (mainly groups of ‘open networkers’ who are business people from around the world). Next, I’m going to join at least 10 (perhaps 20 or more) LinkedIn groups made up specifically of business owners and business starters – my two specific target groups of potential customers. And I ‘want’ to receive email messages from members of these groups – letting me know that they have accepted my invitations to connect with them – or letting me know that they would like to connect with me. This isn’t nuisance email or spam, it’s what I’m signing on for. So. Now the question. How do I manage the 200 plus emails I receive each day now – and how will I handle the additional hundreds that I plan to generate as I grow my networks (not just on LinkedIn, but on other platforms as well)? Good question.
How? For me (a MicroSoft Outlook user, like 90% of the world), the answer is a little function called ‘Create a Rule.’ (There must be a similar procedure in the Mac world?). The idea is to deflect certain emails from arriving in your inbox – instead diverting them to a special file folder in your inbox – where you can go and work with them at any time you choose – rather than having them ‘in your face’ whenever they arrive.
Here are the steps:
- In the left hand column of your Outlook window, highlight the “Inbox” file
- Go to ‘New” at top left of the window and press and hold down the arrow key at right of the word ‘New”
- Choose ‘Folder’ (so that you are creating a new folder in your inbox)
- Now name your new folder (for example, I created a new folder that I titled, ‘LINKED IN’)
- Now right click on any individual email that you would like to have sent directly into that new file folder – rather than having it appear in your inbox – from now on
- Choose ‘Create rule’ while right clicked on the email item
- Tick the box that says, “subject contains…” (which shows the words in this email’s subject lines)
- Then tick the box that says ‘Move the item to folder…’ and choose the new folder that you have just created (in my case, my new LINKED IN folder)
- Now you will be asked if you want to move all items with this subject line – that are already in your inbox – to your new folder (this takes a couple of minutes but it’s worth it)
Tipzntrix: Once your emails are safely diverted to your special folders (you will want to create several), you can go into these files at any time, and work with the messages you’ve received on ‘your schedule’ – not just whenever they show up. I organize the emails in these folders by subject line – and deal with batches of them at a time. This approach allows me to make much more efficient (and effective) use of my time. Questions? I’m at ng@neilgodin.com and I’ll do my best to answer.
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