E-mail time savers

Technology is supposed to give us more time to do more important things. But when it comes to e-mail many of us spend more time than needed responding to electronic messages. Here are a few tips for working more efficiently with e-mail.

1.    Check your mail only twice a day. There’s no reason to check you mail several times a day. Set a time in the morning and in the late afternoon when things are quiet.

2.    Separate your personal and business mail accounts. Keep your personal mail out of work and keep your work mail out of your home. Your can use a service like ivillage’s free e-mail or Hotmail to maintain a separate personal account. Avoid the temptation of checking that personal account during the day.

3.    Filter the spam. Spam is unsolicited e-mail advertising. Instead of simply deleting the message there is often an option to request a stop on the e-mail.

4.    Organize your addresses and messages. Don’t waste time retyping e-mail addresses every time you send something. Keep a running address book for all of your e- mail addresses. File your messages into appropriate folders as soon as you read them.