GeekSugar

Turn Your Inbox Into a To-Do List in 5 Easy Steps

SavvySugar — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 03:36:23 PST

Start the new year off right by getting organized - beginning with your inbox. From daily deals to digital receipts to holiday sale announcements, emails are especially frequent this time of year. Clear the clutter and manage your tasks by following these five simple steps.

Create categories. It's important to categorize your messages so that you can find them quickly. Start by establishing general folders like personal, work, finance, travel, and shopping. Then decide how you can divide each of those labels into smaller subcategories. For instance, your personal folder may include photos and letters, while your shopping folder contains coupons and receipts. Determine the types of messages that you receive most often and add more as you see fit.
Color-code. For one thing, colored labels will make your inbox look better. Plus, keeping things color-coordinated allows you to carry the label system throughout your office. Buy folders, sticky notes, and highlighters in each shade so that, for example, blue always means banking. In Gmail, colors can be added to each label by letting your mouse hover just to the right of the label name.

Read on for the rest of the steps.

3 Email Etiquette Guides You Should Memorize

SavvySugar — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:35:39 PDT

When you type away at the keyboard all day it's easy to forget that email etiquette can affect how seriously you're taken, and even how well you're liked, in the workplace. Click through these tips for making your email communication more professional and effective before you hit send.

How To: Write More Professional Emails - How you write a work email isn't going to make or break your career (well, in most cases). But your email etiquette can affect how seriously you're taken, and even how well you're liked, in the workplace. Read on for 10 things to keep in mind before hitting send.
7 Unprofessional, But Avoidable Email Sins - Writing an effective, direct, and friendly professional email is an art form. It takes forethought, tact, and careful effort. It also means paying attention to possible pitfalls before you hit send.
10 Things to Consider Before Clicking Send - Everyone gets worked up at work on occasion. Sharing close quarters while juggling your co-workers' different abilities, communication styles, tempers, and egos and the overall office hierarchy can create a ticking time bomb. When your temper starts to boil, it's important to address your frustrations in the most professional manner possible so you don't regret anything you say later.

A Geek Girl's Guide to Digital Safety

GeekSugar — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:19:45 PDT

There's no better time to start thinking of online safety than the present. Whether you're shopping online, signing into your email, or surfing the web on your mobile phone, there are simple ways to protect your identity and information. Check out this guide to protecting yourself in this digital world.

Savvy Tech Tool: Schedule Emails to Be Sent Later With Boomerang

Emily Co — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:36:12 PDT

Reader magickalrealism has a pretty genius solution for sending late-night emails to colleagues and bosses - a tech tool called Boomerang. I recently talked about how sending emails in the wee hours can seem a bit unprofessional so it's best to hold off till the morning if you can if it's not an urgent email and if your fellow office workers live in the same time zone.

Boomerang is a Firefox and Chrome plug-in that will let you schedule your emails to be sent at a later time and date, anywhere from a minute later to years later. You can install one for Gmail or for Outlook. The tool even lets you take out emails from your inbox and resend them back to you at a later time when you actually need them. For example, if your friend sent you an email today, but you're not going to have any time to respond until the weekend, you can use Boomerang to remove the email from your inbox and resend it to you on Saturday.

I just downloaded the plug-in for my Gmail account and I love it! I wrote an email late last night that I scheduled to be sent at 9 a.m. today, which went off without a hitch. I even had time to look over it before it was sent.

I can imagine this feature coming in really handy on Friday when I'm writing work emails, because people are more likely to forget to reply as they usually put off replying to Friday emails until after the weekend. Using Boomerang to schedule those emails for Monday mornings may cut down on the hassle of sending follow-up emails.

How-To: Stop Email Spamming

SavvySugar — Tue, 31 May 2011 03:05:16 PDT

A community member was having trouble unsubcribing from Monster.com emails and reached out to the Savvy Confessions group for help. Here's the advice of one anonymous reader.

To comply with CanSpam all commercial email sent is supposed to have a snail mail address and at the very best a phone number you can reach them at. If they are not honoring your unsubscribe after 10 business days then you should write or call and complain. Also, mark the email itself as spam in your email client. The higher the number of spam complaints is great feedback that the company is doing something wrong. If you're still receiving unwanted email add the From address to your banned email list or set up a filter that will automatically dump anything from that sender straight into the Trash folder.

Do you have any tips for unsubscribing? Share them in the comments below! Remember, you can ask your own career- and finance-related questions anonymously in the Savvy Confessions group for a chance to be featured on SavvySugar and advised by fellow Savvy readers.

7 Unprofessional, but Avoidable Email Sins

SavvySugar — Mon, 23 May 2011 00:15:52 PDT

Writing an effective, direct, and friendly professional email is an art form. It takes forethought, tact, and careful effort. It also means paying attention to possible pitfalls before you hit send. Here are seven avoidable sins you can steer clear of with a little extra care.

12 Tech Tips For National Etiquette Week

GeekSugar — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:56:43 PDT

Today kicks off National Etiquette Week, and it's come at a good time - apparently, Americans have terrible tech manners! We've rounded up some of our most helpful and handy tech etiquette tips to keep you in the good graces of your friends, family, and co-workers, so check them out. And be sure to leave your etiquette tips in the comments or on our Facebook page, so we can round up your awesome tips, too!

3 Sticky Wedding-Related Email Etiquette Situations to Avoid

GeekSugar — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 02:07:06 PDT

Have you or someone you know fallen victim to one of these bridal email etiquette situations? When you're dealing with a busy wedding party scattered throughout the country (or even just scattered across your town), digital communication is a must. It keeps all of the bridesmaids and other VIPs in the know and is a quick, easy way for the bride, maid of honor, or anyone else to communicate thoughts, ideas, plans, and other important info to many people at once. However, it can also create problems. When you're writing while stressed, it can be far too easy to misinterpret the tone of an email (since body language is nonexistent), and then it's open season on hurt feelings. Here, three sticky email etiquette situations to avoid.

MOH on a power trip. If you're involved in a wedding, you know there is an endless amount of parties, gifts, and expenses associated with them. While she may be trying to help, an overzealous maid of honor may become a little pushy - especially if she's a planner.
How to deal: If you're dealing with one of these types, it's best to keep your correspondence professional and to the point. If she demands an RSVP to a party invite or gift contribution, and you can't give her one just yet, be honest. Quickly explain your situation, apologize, and stand your ground. If it's appropriate (like, if you can't make it to an out-of-state shower), be sure to explain your position to the bride, too. Just keep any potential conflicts out of the communication you have with the bride - if you have beef with the maid of honor, better to deal with it just between the two of you.

Keep reading for more sticky wedding-related email situations

What to Do After Your Email Account Gets Hacked

GeekSugar — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:15:50 PDT

I've mentioned before that I've left a few old email addresses open after switching to a new mail program, and most of you admitted to doing the same. Well, here's one reason you (and I) might want to reconsider that stance. An old email address I left open and checked once a week or so was hacked, and for three days sent spammy messages to all of the contacts in my address book.

Since I hadn't given that address out in years, I hadn't talked to many of the spam recipients for quite a while. Finally yesterday, a friend sent me a message on Facebook to let me know about the spam. I was mortified! Find out what I did next, and learn what steps you should take if your email address gets hacked after the break.

Hotmail Makes It Easy to Interact With Your Favorite Websites

Kristen Hawley — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:41:10 PDT

Microsoft's Hotmail has just announced a new Active Views platform for messages, allowing users to receive interactive email. Starting this week with partners Orbitz and Monster.com will deliver the first interactive messages to users, allowing recipients to take action with these sites (say, booking a vacation) directly within their inboxes. More partners (like Netflix and LinkedIn) are coming soon.

Find out more after the break.