| Greetings!
What an amazing few weeks here. Starting with NBTA in Houston and Arizona MPI in Tucson in mid-August, a great program for the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Association on 8/20, then another great program for the Howell Chamber/LAHRA on 8/24, a program for US HHS on 8/26 in Alexandria VA, programs for Thunderbird MBA in Arizona and U. Pittsburgh MBA, and a HUGE standing room only crowd at Affordable Meetings National in DC and a great show today with Midwest Speakers in Des Moines, IA, I've definitely kicked off my "busy season" with a bang! Thanks everyone for the great support!
Things don't slow down, with several more client programs, conference appearances, and university sessions in coming weeks and months. The next one is THIS TUESDAY (look to the right) -- a great chance for you to get your e-mail under control right here in East Lansing.
This month's Timely Tip is one I cannot believe I haven't shared before, but is one I recommend EVERYONE consider using. It simply has to save people significant time over the coming months/years, by getting you to your most used files, folders, and documents faster. Here it is:
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Naming/Shortcut Strategy for Most-Used Folders and Files
| This is ALWAYS the place to look for your Timely Tip!
Here is a super-handy two-part time-saving tip for your electronic files (or, more specifically, for your electronic file folders that store your electronic files.) In my Taming E-mail programs, I show a very specific naming tip for your e-mail folders in Outlook (and other top e-mail software programs): when creating a name for your folders, if it is a folder you will be using extensively (one of your "most-used" folders), put an exclamation point and/or ampersand as the first character of the name of the folder.
When you do this in your e-mail folders, it supersedes alphabetization, and moves those "most used" folders to the top of your e-mail file cabinet -- thus, you can get to those folders a second or two more quickly EACH AND EVERY TIME you need to access them (by filing and/or retrieving something in those folders).
Now, this same naming strategy can also help you move your most-used subfolders in Windows Explorer to the top of those file cabinets too. If it is a subfolder you will be using extensively, give it a name with an exclamation point at the start, and it will often move to the top of your subfolder list in any given folder (I did note this did NOT move the above-named folder to the top of every folder hierarchy list, but even when it doesn't, the exclamation point as the first character of the folder name still makes those folders stick out prominently, making it easy for your eyes to find them quickly.) NOTE: I DO NOT recommend renaming any of your key administrative folders ("Inbox" or "Sent" Items in your e-mail, "Programs" in Windows, etc.), as that may create problems with your software/systems (your software will likely not allow you to rename these particular folders anyway!) -- only do this naming strategy with subfolders YOU have created.
BONUS TIP: While you are at it, why not also create a "shortcut" for these "most-used" folders in your Windows Explorer, and put them right on your computer desktop? To create a file-folder shortcut in Windows, simply open Windows Explorer, in the left-hand column, open your folders to ONE FOLDER ABOVE the folder that you want to create a shortcut for. Thus, in the right-hand column, you should see the folder in the list that you want to create the shortcut for.
Simply "right click" on that subfolder, and you will be given the option to "Create Shortcut". The shortcut of that folder will default into the same master folder that the desired folder resides in, but you can simply then drag the shortcut icon to your computer's desktop, and then you can get to your most desired folders and most-used documents and files within those folders VERY quickly. And don't forget you can always use the "Windows + D" keystroke combo to immediately jump to your desktop even if you have several program windows open.
Following these two strategies -- effectively naming your most-used folders in both e-mail and Explorer, and also creating shortcuts for your most-used Explorer folders, could save you minutes per day, hours per month, and possibly a days per year.
Happy Naming & Shortcutting!! (Did I just create a new word???)
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Happy Trails!
Here's where I'll be in coming weeks: U. Chicago Booth MBA, the CAUCUS IT Summit in Chicago, the Iowa Society of
Association Executives conference, Northern Iowa Association of Community Colleges, the Michigan Association of
Realtors Conference in Mt. Pleasant, and the Michigan State
Bar/Institute for Continuing Legal Education Conference in Grand
Rapids, U. Michigan and MSU
HRD Groups, the Broad MBA Program at MSU, the Michigan ORR Conference, the Medical Office Manager's Organization meeting in Ann Arbor, the Missouri Governor's Conference on Tourism, and the MACPA Conference in Lansing -- all before Halloween (and throw in a few private company training sessions too!) Make sure to drop me a line if I'll see
you at any of these events or will be in your neck of the woods. Hope to see you at one of these events very soon. Until next time, Stay Timely!
Sincerely,
Randy Dean
Randall Dean Consulting & Training, LLC
or http://www.emailsanityexpert.com
PPS: Always feel free to use the "Forward E-mail" option below to share this info with your family, friends, & co-workers. |
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 THIS TUESDAY!
September 14
Taming the E-mail Beast 2-Hour Intensive:
PTD Technology
East Lansing
| I'll be leading a 2-hour intensive morning session on Taming the E-mail Beast this Tuesday, September 14th, here in East Lansing, Michigan at PTD Technology, at the NE corner of the Lake Lansing Road exit off US 127.
This program is being co-sponsored by PTD Technology, an East Lansing-based computer and software training firm. You can find out more now and register for this program by visiting the
PTD Website.
Here's a link to the program "talksheet" on Taming the E-mail Beast.
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I'll Be Doing Another Program at PTD -- Optimizing Your Outlook -- on
Tuesday, October 5
| This will be a full half-day workshop, once again here in East Lansing, on getting more from all of the five key functions in your Outlook: calendar, tasks, contacts, notes, and, of course, e-mail. (Here's the talksheet on what is covered in this program.) It basically shows how I use Outlook as the base of a comprehensive work/life productivity system, getting more effective prioritization and action both professionally and personally.
Here is the link to that program registration page.
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E-mail Success!
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Randy,
I attended both of
your sessions at NBTA in Houston. When I got back to work
today, I had over 700 emails in my in-box. I currently have
14 emails! Those will be handled before I go home today but I just wanted
to say Thanks!!
- J. DeMatteo
Texas
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