Email Sucks. 5 Time Saving Tips.

Sent to you by Rio via Google Reader: Email Sucks. 5 Time Saving Tips.
via Kevin Rose by Kevin Rose on 8/17/10

My stats:
938 unread work emails.
1002 unread personal emails.

The madness has to stop. What was once a 30 minute annoyance is now my
full-time job. Here are 5 time saving tips:

#5: Add a http://three.sentenc.es/ email signature and keep them short.

"Treat all email responses like SMS text messages, using a set number
of letters per response. Since it’s too hard to count letters, we count
sentences instead.

three.sentenc.es is a personal policy that all email responses
regardless of recipient or subject will be three sentences or less.
It’s that simple."

Example signature:
--------------------------------------------
Q: Why is this email three sentences or less?
A: http://three.sentenc.es
--------------------------------------------

#4: Type "Sent from iPhone" under your short responses. People don't
expect long responses when you're on your phone. Don't forget to
mispell a few words.

This all looks graet +1!!
Sent from iPhone.

#3: Create a 'VIP' filter. Add your boss, investors, and close friends.
Flag them red and throw them in a separate folder. This is the first
place I check every morning.

#2: (Gmail only) Keep the spam out. If you're giving your address to a
potentially shady website, tack on +spam to the end, example:
yourname+spam@gmail.com. You can then filter those emails into a spam
folder you check periodically. (ProTip: the +spam is a variable that
can be anything you want, eg. yourname+football@gmail.com etc., make as
many as you like)

#1: (Apple Mail or similar program) Setup an email bankruptcy filter.
This is a little bit of a dick move, but if you're getting hundreds of
new emails a day, it just might work.

Step 1: Create a filter that auto-responds to all unopened emails > 14
days old w/the following message:

Your email (below) is now 14 days old and has not been opened. To
minimize email buildup your email has now been placed in the archive.
Should you still require a response simply respond back and you'll
automatically be added to the priority queue. Thank you.

Step 2: Setup another filter that looks for the text "Your email
(below)", this will catch the email responses back to you from those
still requiring your response. Filter these into a special folder you
check and respond to daily.

Good luck!

Things you can do from here:
- Subscribe to Kevin Rose using Google Reader
- Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your
favorite sites