TECHNOLOGY: Taming the email monster

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2010/05/five-realistic-tips-for-using-email-more-efficiently.html

MY COMMENT:

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May I suggest that more email accounts, with a proper strategy, mail actually be more “efficient”?

All too often, I see folks with a single email account with everything jumbled together. No ability to segregate personal from business, financial from non, family from weirdo, (Oh wait some of my family are pretty weird!), … any way, you get the idea.

I personally use lots of different accounts for different purposes. Reading down my inboxes in my mail client: Urgent Matters, Brokerage Account, Bank Account, Paytrust, Family, Friends, Work, Job Search Networking, College Alumni, My High School Class Specifically, High School Alumni, Networking, Technology Playing, Catch All, and Routine Subscriptions. And, few other oddballs ones.

May sound like a mess, but:

(1) Email time is IMMEDIATELY presented in priority order. (Most people just reply to email, so they get to know me by the address. I have my own domain so I am in complete control of the names, the archiving interval, and automatic handling.)

(2) Messages purporting to be from my bank sent by a spammer stand out like a sore thumb when they come it on the “wrong” email account.

(3) Message originating from me are distinctive in the account name so the recipient can quickly place my association with them. (e.g., HighSchoolNickname @ mydomainname dot com) Saves angst on all ends.

(4) “Lost messages”, remembered or needed later, can be found by looking in the “dedicated email” box which is just a fraction of the overall mail volume.

So in this case, more is actually less. More mailboxes; less wasted time.

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