I get about 60 mails a day at work and 15 or so personal mails - a fair amount, but by no means unnusual - here's how I keep the email monkey off my back:

1. If a mail requires further attention and I don't have time right then, I flag it - Gmail's starring system or Outlook's flags both do the job.
2. I delete everything else as soon as I've read it. My inbox therefore only contains mails I still have to deal with.
3. I keep my deleted items for at least three months, that way I'm less scared to delete things as I can always get them back. It's amazing how rarely I need to though. :-)
4. I only have automated sorting rules for lists that never or rarely require action - chat lists, newsletters etc - I don't squirrel away potentially important mails in a misguided attempt to be tidy because if it's not in my inbox I probably won't read it for days.
5. Finally (my favourite tip) - in order to get some actual work done I disconnect outlook when I'm coding so that little envelope sys-tray icon doesn't distract me. Note "disconnect" rather than close - I still (unfortunately) need the meeting reminders :-(

UPDATE: Nowadays I leave outlook connected, but have turned off the notification icon. Same effect, but I don't have to keep changing outlook settings.

Labels: email, gmail, google mail, outlook

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Hate spam? Me too. Here's my tips on how to get less

1. Buy your own domain name so you can have as many aliases (the bit before the @) as you like, then only give your chosen alias out to friends and family. For companies *always* give them an alias that uses their domain name - for example amazon.co.uk@yourdomain.com. If you get spam you'll a) know who let your details out and b) be able to block them easily.
2. Redirect all the common aliases for *all* domain names you own to a dummy address, I use nospam@easily.co.uk. These aliases might include: sales, info, webmaster, accounts, accounting, enquiries, office, administrator, billing, admin and contact.
3. Use an email service with a spam filter. Google Mail has a good one, and it's free.
4. If you want to put your address online then obfuscate it so spam bots are less likely to pick it up. For example: alias[at}yourdomain(dot]com
5. If you're posting it on your own site you can use javascript to tidy it up and make it a link. Put this in a script tag in the head of your page:

   window.onload = function(){
   if (document.getElementById){
   //You can obfuscate this as much as you like
   var where = "@"
   var mail = "alias" + where + "yourdomain." + "com";
   //then put it into the page
   document.getElementById('email').innerHTML=
   '<a href="mailto:'+mail+'">'+mail+'</a>';
   document.getElementById('emailExplanation')
   .style.display="none";
   }
   }

   And this in the body of your page:

   <p id="email">
   alias (at] yourdomain {dot) com
   </p>
   <p id="emailExplanation">
   (Excuse the odd formatting of that email
   address - it's to try and throw spambots
   off the scent.)
   </p>
   

Labels: email, gmail, google mail, spam

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