For many of us, email is an integral part of our working day. It’s something we take for granted. Often, using it for essential communication and perhaps also the integrated calendar and to-do list to help us stay on track.
However, you may be amazed at how many ‘hidden’ email features exist that can simplify your day at work. Additionally, you can boost your productivity, and keep organized.
Take a look at seven of the best of them below - from tucked-away alert features to handy folder clean-up tools. You may be surprised at just how much your email platform is capable of!
Did you know that some email platforms allow you to send voice messages in-app? Recording and sharing a voice message is often quicker than typing out an email or leaving a note and is more personal, too.
Click here to find out more about email solutions that offer this neat perk and more about how it works. If the email platform you’re using doesn’t feature this tool, it may be time to switch! Dropping a colleague a quick voicemail is a great way to ensure that you pass on a thought, quick heads up, or request for a video call before being distracted by another task.
For those who deal with clients or colleagues in different locations worldwide, the ability to select multiple time zones on your email is really useful. As well as helping you keep an eye on the time differences, it can also ensure you’re not late to virtual meetings! This will save you the daily confusion of adding and subtracting hours and trying to work out if it’s too late for a colleague to respond, too.
If your email platform has the facility to set multiple time zones, you’ll usually find the tools you need in the Calendar function.
You’re probably already aware of keyboard shortcuts, but many email apps like Shift feature hotkeys, too. These allow you to perform a range of functions even more speedily!
Frequent tasks such as creating, replying to, and forwarding messages can all be done via hotkeys. Depending on your email provider you can also open your contact list, search for text in an email message, and open the calendar. This may constitute only a tiny time-saving, but over a week or a month, those little bits of time can add up.
We’ve all used the little yellow star icon to flag up an important message, right? But did you know that many email apps offer a range of different symbols that can help keep your files and messages organized? You can even order the symbols in terms of the ones you use most.
Making the most of different symbols is a great way to visually code your communications. Plus, it can add a bit of personalization to your inbox!
Do you find it hard to focus when multiple emails are pinging in? If so, the Ignore function is something you’ll definitely want to know about! If there’s a non-urgent conversational thread going on that keeps pulling your attention away from the task at hand, then many email apps will allow you to ignore the entire conversation.
Set where you want these emails to go - you could decide that distribution circulations can go directly to the Deleted folder or create a separate folder for other non-urgent messages.
Don’t forget to turn off Ignore once you’re ready to jump back into the fray!
If your inbox is particularly busy, you may be worried about missing an important message that you’re expecting. But many platforms feature a tool to solve this problem, too!
Set the alert based on specific criteria, such as the name of the sender or a keyword in the subject line. Then, you’ll get an alert - no matter what app, tool, or platform you’re working on. Thus, letting you know that the message you’re waiting for has dropped into your inbox.
Inbox deep cleaning is the sort of task that’s easy to put off. Forever. However, your email app may well have a clean-up tool that’ll make this job quick and easy. Thus, leaving you with a decluttered, organized inbox.
Clean-up tools can usually be set only to delete emails that have been read and don’t contain specific words or information. This means you won’t accidentally throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Regularly clearing up your inbox is a great habit to get into. It saves you valuable storage space, and it’ll make it much easier to locate the exact message you’re looking for.
Incorporating just one or two of these less well-known email tools into your workday could make a big difference to how much you can get done in a day. Not to mention how easily you can do it. Spend some time exploring the nooks and crannies of your email app to find other handy tools and features. These can all help your time in the office run even more smoothly.
