As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m developing a new presentation on time management for translators. I presented the “beta” version at the Colorado Translators Association‘s recent mid-year conference and I think it went well; big thanks to everyone who responded to my time management survey which provided an excellent starting point for the presentation!
Time management is such a huge and subjective topic that I’m not sure I can write just one blog post about it. So I thought I would break the idea down into specific tips that might be easier to digest. Here’s one: take back control of your e-mail by mercilessly unsubscribing and filtering, so that you (try to) limit your inbox to messages that you need to read as soon as you receive them.
All of us receive countless notification e-mails every day: someone added you as a LinkedIn contact; someone mentioned you on Twitter; Groupon has a great offer for you; someone in your neighborhood needs a dog sitter. You may not want to stop receiving these e-mails entirely, but you need to stop them from interrupting your actual work. So, do this: the next time you read an e-mail and delete it without taking any further action, make a change. If you’re no longer interested in receiving that type of e-mail at all, unsubscribe. If you want to keep receiving it but you don’t need to read it right away, create a filter. I use the Gmail interface to read my domain name e-mail, and I make heavy use of the “Bypass the inbox” filtering feature. So let’s say that I signed up for an e-newsletter from a potential client because I want to learn more about their business. The first time I receive an e-mail from them:
-I click on the dropdown arrow on the right side of the message window, next to the Reply arrow
-Then I select “Filter messages like this”
-I enter the aspect that I want to filter on (sender, subject line, etc.), then click “Create filter with this search”
-Then I select or create a folder for those e-mails to go to; for example “Marketing research”
-Then, most importantly, I tick the “Skip the Inbox (Archive it)” box. The message will still be marked as unread, but it will go automatically to the designated folder. For example I currently have 497 unread messages from my neighborhood e-mail list in the folder I created for them. Basically that’s 497 messages that didn’t end up in my Inbox, and that I can read when/if I want to.
I’m sure that other e-mail applications have similar features; whatever program you use, make sure that you learn how to use filters so that you can focus on time-sensitive messages in your Inbox.
I didn’t realize gmail had this function! I’m heading to my inbox now to start filtering. Thanks, Corinne!
I didn’t realize that filtering could be accomplished this way in Gmail. Thank you for taking the time to point this out.
Thanks for your tips! I find them very useful! I will try the filter thing. Thanks
Thank you Corinne for this great idea actually I put it in action immediately and already getting good results. looking forward for the coming tip
If you have your own domain name (which most freelancers should have), then you can also create separate e-mail addresses for this purpose. For example, I have a “newsletter@…” address that I use purely for, you guessed it, newsletters and stuff like that. And similarly, I have one for social media, one for friends, etc. It’s basically the same as filtering except that you already assign a category before receiving the first message. And it’s a bit easier in terms of spam control.
And as long as you don’t open that inbox in your email client, these messages won’t interfer with your work schedule. 🙂
I will be forever grateful to you for this tip, Corinne! Since I started filtering, my inbox has become so much more manageable! I took it one step further and replaced the default email app on my iPhone with the Gmail app, which gives me access to my filters on the go. Now I can check my filters while I am waiting in the parking lot for my daughter after school or during other times that simply were wasted doing nothing before, while saving valuable work time. Brilliant!
The principle of not letting unimportant messages distract us is an important one. For those of us using Outlook, the filters feature is called “Rules”. It is very powerful.
Another email-control method that works for me is ‘one-touch’ time-management. If I can handle an email immediately (say in less than 2 minutes), I do. I reply, move it, act, file – whatever it is that needs to be done. That way I clear it before it even makes it to my task list, and my inbox usually only contains fairly important emails that I need to reflect on. I clear my inbox nearly every day, apart from when I’m travelling.
It is easy to find screeds of advice on both these topics online. Now if only I were as organized physically as I am electronically. But we have to start somewhere, right. 🙂
I will definitely make use of the filter system from now!! Thank you Corinne
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