We all love email, right? It’s an efficient, quick way of communicating with other people, right? Yes, but…. for too many of us, our email inbox can become ever larger, as it fills with emails, many of which are simply unnecessary.
And once that growing inbox has started snowballing in size, it becomes an ever more scary problem to solve. If you didn’t have time to deal with those emails the day they arrived, when are you ever going to find the time?
Then there’s the issue of multiple devices. Many of us use a desktop computer, a tablet or iPad, and a smart phone. And we may – or may not – have email set up on all of those platforms, in a more or less efficient way. Do you have to delete an email once on your phone, then again when you sit at your desk, for example?
Here’s where a virtual assistant can really pay for themselves, fast. As an organised administrator, they can sit down with you, make a plan, and tame the inbox monster. Along the way, they will probably be able to streamline your email handling across phone, tablet and computer, and help set up some new rules about how emails are managed. And if you’re really busy, they can manage emails for you on an ongoing basis, taking care of key administrative tasks so that you only get alerted to important emails that you need to read urgently.
You could also, for example, have a round-up of less important items to scan through when you have time; that’s far more efficient than trying to speed read them as they arrive, when your mind may be on other things. Alternatively, it is possible set up email management rules, for example to forward emails you are copied into, and place them in a separate file for reading later.
What to do with all those old emails? Some of them will be updates from subscriptions you no longer want to subscribe to. The VA can ensure your email address is unsubscribed from those. Others will have useful information such as names and contact details, which the virtual assistant cane copy across into a contact file, before deleting the email. Some may have useful attachments such as documents or presentations, which the VA can arrange into storage files for later retrieval.
What happens when you are away on a trip, or a holiday? The VA can ensure you have an out of office message, to minimise the chance of items being backed up when you return. Alternatively, they can review your inbox when you are away, and alert you to important items.
Then there’s your email signature? Is it professional, containing your contact details, social media links and perhaps a hyperlink to your company website? If not, then ask the virtual assistant to set up an email signature for you.
So, is it time to tame your email inbox, and reduce the volume of emails sitting there, taking up space and dragging your efficiency down? Time to get in touch with us here at time Wise VA, and get a new regime in place to streamline your email handling – before cleaning out that oversize inbox once and for all.