Resources: Taming Your Email

Resources

Thanks for participating in the Taming Your Email seminar!

This page is for the exclusive use of seminar participants; please don’t share access. It contains recordings of the informational elements of the seminar and links to additional resources. Check back periodically for updates, and let us know if you have any resources to recommend.

Videos: Part 1

Best Practices + Defining Your Personal Email Strategy

Videos: Part 2

Refining Your Personal Email Strategy + Beyond Email

Additional Resources

Some additional resources to help you further refine your email setup and workflows.

101 Email Hacks by SaneBox (PDF) — A list of email hacks compiled by SaneBox and friends. While many are general, some are specific to email providers (e.g. Google’s Gmail).

MacSparky Email Field Guide (iBook Store) — A comprehensive guide to email on Mac and iOS written by David Sparks (aka MacSparky). In his own words: “This book tackles your over-stuffed inbox. The Email Field Guide covers both why email has become such a problem for everyone and how to manage it more effectively.

Unsubscribe by Jocelyn K. Glei (website) — A quick and easy read with plenty of practical wisdom, ranging from establishing a daily routine to the effective wording of email responses. The illustrations scattered throughout the book give it a playful quality.

Boomerang (website) — This clever add-on to Gmail and G Suite adds significant new functionality to the your web-based emailing. For example, you can defer sending the email until a specific day and time and can ask to be notified if you don’t receive a response within a specific time period.

SaneBox (website) — A web-based service that works with most email providers, including Gmail, Exchange, iCloud and many IMAP providers. Its most basic function is to automatically filter incoming messages. Messages that are deemed important are left in the inbox and those that are less pressing are automatically moved to a @SaneLater folder that can be checked at your leisure.

1Password (website) & LassPass (website) — If someone were to gain unauthorized access to your email they could do serious damage to your reputation. It’s strongly recommended that you use a strong, unique password for each of your online services and that you make use of two factor authentication where available. 1Password and Last Pass allow you to manage this complexity and relieve you from the burden of having to memoize numerous passwords.

Doodle (website) — If scheduling a group meeting typically involves dozens of emails and hightened frustration, make everyone’s lives easier by using Doodle to send a link with proposed meeting times. The receipients simply click the link and indicate when they’re available and, once you have a consensus, you can go ahead and schedule the meeting. There’s a paid version, but the free service is more than adquate for most people.

Dragon by Nuance (website) — Dictating emails can be more efficient in some instances, while also giving your fingers a break. While the voice dictatoin that’s built-in to your device may be adequate, you may consider purchasing one of Nuance’s Dragon dictation products if you’re using dictation frequently. Unlike built-in options, they can be trained to understand your voice and commonly used vocabulary. They even have editions that are geared towards specific professions (e.g. medical and law).

Grammarly (website) — This service picks up where the spell checker leaves off. Once you’ve installed the Grammarly plugin, it will monitor what you type in text fields in your web browser and offer corrections for both spelling and grammar errors. It works surprising accuracy and helps avoid embarrassing typos. The basic service is free and you can optionally upgrade to Grammarly Premium, that offers more advanced suggestions and integrations.

OmniFocus (website) — A personal task manager for Mac and iOS designed around David Allens Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. Its can be integrated with the macOS Mail app using a free app called the OmniFocus Clip-o-Tron. Several third-party email apps for Mac and iOS, including Airmail, also feature integration with OmniFocus.

RescueTime (website) — It can be very helpful to keep track of how much time you’re spending on email each day. RescueTime runs in the background on Mac and Windows and automatically lets you know where your time is going. By comparing your scores from week to week you can make sure that you’re heading in the right direction. While there is a paid option, the free version is sufficient for most people.

ScheduleOnce (website) — This service essentially allows people to book time on your calendar based on parameters you define. You can indicate when you’re available and booked appointments will automatically appear on your calendar without you having to lift a finger. You can also give people the option of  cancelling and rescheduling their appointments without any action on your part. Simliar solutions include Calendly (website) and Acuity Scheduling (website).

TextExpander (website) — This indepensible app for Mac, Windows and iOS allows you to create abbreviations that expand into longer strings of text. By creating snippets for text that you type frequently you can reduce the time it takes for your to write emails. Snippets can be as simple as your name and phone number and can be as elaborate as paragraphs of text with fill-in forms. You optionally share some of your Snippets with your team, or even the world.

Todoist (website) — A web-based task manager with native apps for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. You can translate emails into Todoist tasks by emailing them to a special email address. It can be used in a collaborative setting and both free and premium versions are available.

Zapier (website) — An automation service that connects a wide range of apps and services. For example, receiving an email with a specific subject line could automatically create a status update in Slack. Conversly, you could opt to receive an email notification if a files are added to a specific folder in Dropbox. p.s. Zapier rhymes with happier.