Manage Your E-Mail

After a couple of days away from the computer, I return and find I have four hundred e-mails waiting for response. Fortunately, this is an infrequent occurrence and I have a system for managing my e-mail that will allow me to deal with this backlog in about an hour, two at the most. This was not always the case. When I was first introduced to e-mail in the work environment, I would often get several hundred e-mails a day. About half of them would go unread until I missed an important event or blundered into a meeting unaware of a breaking development. I had to find a way to cut through the pile of messages while I was still employed.

Folks still struggle with managing e-mail. Seventy per-cent of employees in Fortune Five Hundred Companies admit to having more e-mail than they can effectively handle. Another study states that the average computer user spends about an hour a day searching for stored documents and e-mail messages.

Here are a few tips that work for me:
Check e-mail once or twice a day. Setting up an alert and answering it every time a message pops up is inefficient use of time. Waiting more than twenty-four hours to review your inbox may result in a backlog and in your missing time-sensitive information.

When reviewing e-mail, start with the most recent messages first. This will eliminate answering serial e-mails about the same subject.

Spend no more than two minutes with each message. Make a decision about response to the message at the time you read it. Productivity expert Sally MaGhee suggests the Four D Method. When you read the e-mail make a decision to delete it, do it, delegate it or defer it. When delegating something, turn it into an action item for follow up. When deferring something, turn it into an action item or an appointment so you won’t forget about it. Microsoft Outlook provides tools for doing this quickly and provides good instructions at www.microsoft.com.

Create an effective reference system for items you need to save. (of course you save only the information that is relevant is not stored anywhere else and will be used in the next six months). Create files and search rules that are meaningful for you and the way you work. Purge the file when you no longer need the information.

These simple steps made a big difference for me and now I can afford to spend a day away from the computer when necessary.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

ORGANIZE CORDS AND CABLES

Not all technology is wireless. That is evident when we spy the tangled web of cords leading from computers, entertainment systems and other clusters of electronic devices.
Whether you are dealing with extension cords or coaxial cables, there are devices that help to keep them orderly and protect the humans in our lives from getting tangled in the mess.

The least expensive (and least esthetically pleasing) solution is too use split PVC tubing to protect and bundle, or twist ties and stick on hooks to keep the tied cords tight against consoles and walls. Either of these solutions works well for thinner cords and cables. A cheap option for storing thinner cable is to thread them through paper towel or toilet tissue tubes. We do not, however, recommend using these paper tubes for cables and cords that are in use.

If you yearn for a simple, attractive way to organize the cords and cables that litter your floors, there are several commercially available options for taming the mess. The Wiremate Cable Organizer at www.wiremate.com conceals a crowd of cables and comes in three colors to coordinate with your décor. At www.officedepot.com , the 3M Cord Organizer Kit comes with cord bundlers and tags, and www.organize.com carries a host of products for shortening excess cable cord and bundling cable of all sizes. At www.ImprovementsCatologue.com you can find a Cord Cover Kit that includes adhesive-backed channels and corner pieces that snap together for a neat tailored look. The material can be painted to match the décor and fits any flat surface. This is a great alternative for protecting wires from little hands.

A cordwrap outlet faceplate for outlets is an ingenious design that allows the user to wrap excess cord at the plug-in source. Unfortunately the website www.keepitcartesian is temporarily out of the product. They urge you to check back as they will have the design in stock soon. A few other devices that allow better organization of cords at plug in sites are the Hub-man four port hub available at www.solutions.com, and the five outlet corner plug surge protector that fits neatly in a corner available at www.shophometrends.com.

Keeping cords bundled, encased and organized protects the cords from damage and keeps them from causing harm to folks with inquisitive hands or clumsy feet.

Beverly and Kristen
www.keytransitions.net