We get a lot of email. Like a LOT. The kind of email that gets you so buried in your inbox that it would take a St. Bernard and legion from the Swiss Army to dig you out.
It is, in short, the bane of my existence. The Medusa to my mojo. Because for every email that is slain & defeated, three more rise up to take its place. :)
BUT.
Yes, there's a but.
But....there's a lot more love than hate in my relationship with my email. Because see, it brings us closer to all of you. Beyond all the working emails and trivial day to day, we get some of the most heartfelt, genuine thoughtful, life-sharing notes from....You. And I thank you for that. From the bottom of my heart. You open up your lives to us....you aren't afraid to ask. And I love you for that. Truly. I love you. Like a lovesick crackhead. :)
So please don't stop sending. Please don't stop sharing. Just understand that it may take a little while to get back to you....while I'm out slaying dragons and email Medusas.
In the mean time, I have become a devoted student to learning tips & tricks for handling the inbox quagmire, and thought I would share them with you too!
First, I try to check email only twice a day. Sometimes I give in to the temptation and check it sooner than that, but at the very least I only respond twice a day. Otherwise, if I keep responding, Medusa tends to rear her ugly heads. All three of them. Next when I hit get mail and the messages start pouring in, once I stop cowering under my desk I go to work and get strategic. The first thing I do is sort in Mac Mail by "From." This groups everything from facebook, twitter, our blog comments, Restoration Hardware, J.Crew,etc all together with other messages of its kind so that I can bang through them quickly. I can look through all of the facebook message and delete those pretty quickly, twitter adds, J.Crew sales, etc. You can also set up Smart Folders in Mac Mail to accomplish pretty much the same thing. After that, I will search by "Subject" so that I can get back to any "client emails" first and also get rid of any long chains of "Reply All's" somebody accidentally included me in. :) Y'know since I am emphatically against the reply all in 99.9% of situations. And finally once it's all narrowed down to actual emails I need to respond to, I go by date so I can see who has been waiting the longest and what is most pressing. Anything i can't answer right that second, goes into a "To Do" folder for when I have the time to look up whatever they need. Annnnnd... that's my strategy.
And being that I am in constant search to increase my email efficiency, you can imagine the happy dance I did (I'm not gonna lie...the running man was involved!) when I saw that Millie's GITKIT had an entire chapter devoted to email management. An ENTIRE chapter! I'm not going to give any of it away, but suffice it to say that the email tips alone make this purchase so worth it. Then add on all the other chapters and it's really a no brainer!
Need more convincing? Well how about this, Millie has given us a super secret code to share with all of you that will get you free shipping on the Kit! Want to know more....just keep reading! But first, our Get It Together Winner.
And now, what you've all really been waiting for....the WINNER of the Get It Together Giveaway is.....
.......drumroll please...........
Stacy Able!!!! For her entry, " My time accounting and time management-- too much time spent on facebook and twitter trying to keep up wastes the time I should be shooting, editing, and loving my family." So true Stacy, so true!! Just shoot us an email at justin@justinmarantz with your addy and we'll send the GITKIT right out to you!
Once again a HUGE thanks to the lovable and business savvy Millie Holloman for being our guest this week and for donating the GITKIT giveaway. For all of you that entered, Millie has also been super generous in giving us a code to share with you for free shipping on your very own GITKIT. After reading it cover to cover in one afternoon, I honestly think it's one of the best investments you could make for your business. Just enter "justinmary" at checkout and you'll be all set!
Thanks Millie!! Can't wait to hug you!
Getting it Togetherly Yours
J&M
** So tell us, what are some of YOUR favorite email tips & tricks??
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