The Essentials of Email Etiquette

Those accidental reply-alls and empty subject fields in your inbox tell the truth—too many people still don't know the basics of proper email etiquette. Here are eleven rules to forward on or follow.

Photo by half empty.

Career writer Marci Alboher touches on a few areas where your email manners might need tweaking. Our own email training impulses align with the importance of descriptive subject lines, and more people should avoid the impulse to have the last word. According to Marci, "there is usually no reason to cap off a long exchange with 'thank you' (and certainly, 'you're welcome')." There tends to exist a natural end point in conversations, so let it end there.

The article also suggests senders should ask whether someone prefers documents to be sent as attachments or pasted in the body of the message before sending. If back-and-forth editing of text is required, try using shared collaboration tools, something like previously mentioned webapp Show Document, in lieu of updating and sending attachments between or among parties.

Take a look at the full post for the entire rundown of email tips, then come back and tell us about your email dos and don'ts. What simple steps could your friends and co-workers take to improve their emailing? Do you have any absolute email don'ts? Share your thoughts below.

Top 10 Productivity Basics Explained

There's a core set of habits and techniques that filter and color a lot of what we write about at Lifehacker, but we rarely step back to explain them for newcomers. Let's get back to basics with 10 productivity tactics.

10. Doable to-do lists

As our founding editor so aptly puts it, every worker of any stripe has two different hats they wear, and can switch between them often: the Boss hat, when tasks are thought up, broken into steps that can be done, and a deadline set; and the Personal Assistant hat, when work is cranked out and reported on. Gina's breakdowns of the art of the doable to-do list and practicing a simplified Getting Things Done method are great places to start out on the path toward getting better at setting up your tasks and knocking them down. Knowing how most information workers are inundated these days, she also warns us to separate email from to-dos, and shows how to shuttle material between the two.

9. Ninja-like search skillz

A newly-licensed lawyer doesn't know everything about every law out there, but they know where and how to find out more about them. Similarly, building up your abilities to find obscure stuff on the web, and in your email, makes you more prepared and ready to roll with whatever you have to learn more about next. Start with 10 obscure Google search tricks to make finding cached pages and specific files an instinct, and learn how phrases like "better than" and "reminds me of" can harness the power of crowds. Get the same kind of thought-to-search-result powers in Gmail with advanced filters and persistent searches, or do much of the same in Outlook with categories and search folders. Look into any search engine's options or help menus, and you're bound to find out a whole lot of tricks you had no idea you could pull off.

8. Remind your future self (a.k.a. tickler files)

Tickler files, in the journalism world, are date-labeled folders that reporters check every day and put documents or story ideas into that aren't needed now, but could be vital down the line. A lot of folks have probably switched over to calendars they can access online, but the principles and usefulness remain the same. Gina traded her month-and-date-labeled paper folder system for a Yahoo Calendar tickler, but her system certainly works in Outlook, on Google Calendars, and many other places. Once you've got a system to jump in front of your Future Self every morning and scream "Today's the day to start working on that project due this October!", you'll want to fine-tune how, exactly, you talk to Future Self. We've covered one specific, concise idea: write as if you were delegating to somebody taking over your jobs for the day.

7. Ubiquitous capture

Your mind doesn't follow your schedule when it comes to great ideas. Holiday gift ideas can pop up in July, project breakthroughs come Saturday afternoons at the mall, and design inspirations show up when you're hundreds of miles from your house. If you're always ready to jot down or photograph an idea and, more importantly, are in the habit of doing so efficiently, you can pull your long-forgotten ideas from your secondary brain when you need them. Evernote is an increasingly popular platform that runs on Windows, Macs, most smartphones, and even on most regular phones via email; we call it a tool to expand your brain. The Hipster PDA costs about 1/8 of a Starbucks drink and gets the job done for those inclined to write rather than type. There are lots of tools available for grabbing your thoughts when you need one, and how you use them should depend on your trade, and mindset. Geek rock God Jonathan Coulton, for instance, uses a voice recorder app on his iPhone to quickly hum or sing song ideas as they come to him, as explained in our interview—he just pretends he's calling somebody when he does it in public. Photo by Marcin Wichary.

6. Timers and working in dashes

"Crunch these expense report figures for 10 minutes." That's way more appealing and understandable than "Have a briefing on your trip ready by Friday." That second command is what your boss says; the first, a little challenge you give your mind. Set up a timer on your desk or on your computer, pick just a small part of a bigger task you need to do, then hit the clock and go. Give yourself a little break, maybe 2 or 4 minutes every 10, then crank on another work dash. At day's end, you've turned out way more than if you'd pretended to work "all day," and your to-dos are swept away as you run toward the weekend. Here's 43Folders' original post on dashes.

5. Quick searches (web)

Here's a little not-quite-secret disclosure: Editors at this site do dozens of Google site:lifehacker.com searches every day, tracking down old articles and (mostly) ensuring that topics and software already covered don't get posted again. We don't head to Google.com to do them, or even use the default Google search bar in our browsers. Most of us have instead turned those specific Google instructions into a "quick search" in Firefox, and use that to quickly find items from the address bar (this editor, for example, would hit Alt+D, then type lh productivity basics to find this article). It's not only Google searches that can be made quicker; in Firefox, right-clicking on any search box lets you create a quick search. We've previous demonstrated and linked 15 quick searches, shown the easier system for Firefox 3, demonstrated that Google's Quick Search has similar powers, and fallen for experimental Firefox extension Ubiquity as an even faster, smarter quick search commander.

4. Quick searches (local)

Your computer knows where everything is inside it. You don't need, therefore, a cluttered Start menu, Dock, or shortcut-stuffed desktop to get to your files and applications, but a way to tell your computer what you want to do next. An app like Quicksilver on the Mac, Launchy on Windows (or just the Windows keyboard button itself on Vista), or Gnome-Do on Linux connects the first few letters of what you're thinking about to exactly that thing. With practice, you'll search out files you can't even name, perform multi-step actions, and search the web from the same launcher, and never want to return to double-clicking that "Work documents" folder five times a day.

3. Inbox Zero

Email can't overwhelm you if it isn't there. So practicing the art and craft of Inbox Zero is kind of like clearing off a desk—you act on the items you can quickly dismiss, assign the stuff that's actually somebody else's job at the moment to them, and put the rest somewhere to be acted on at a specific date. The idea is just to clear it out and not let it pile up, so you can put your full brain into all that stuff you used to do before email came into your life.

2. Keyboard shortcuts

The more you pull your hand away from a relaxed position on the keyboard to move the mouse, the more strain you put on your hands, wrists, and arms. You're also more likely to get distracted if you pull away from an alert, in-control posture. Learning and internalizing the keyboard shortcuts of your operating system and most-used applications keeps you moving in them. Over time, those muscle memories provide an effortless control that leaves you free to spend your working day's energy on actual thought, not File, Save As, Browse, etc. Here's a list of Windows 7 shortcuts, Microsoft's shortcuts list for XP/Vista, and Apple's official list; the individual programs, you'll have to learn for yourself.

1. Text expansion

You write some blocks of text over and over. "My address is ..." for example, or addresses you enter frequently into mapping web sites, or a list of email addresses. Text expansion tools instantly write those blocks for you when you write a trigger word, and are smart enough to auto-insert dates, text you've just copied, and then move the cursor to where you'll be. On Windows computers, your Lifehacker editors use Texter, while the Mac writers run TextExpander (your sole Linux stalwart is tinkering with AutoKey at the moment). Save yourself a few words at a time, and soon you'll have freed yourself from hours of mechanical typing.

Kukoo Enforces Single-Focus Email Periods

Want to let certain frantic email senders know that you'll be getting back to them during your next batch email period? Webapp Kukoo provides an auto-responding email address that gently reinforces your schedule.

Sign up for the service, and you won't get a new email address, but an affix for your existing address. That means you'd have to post, ask, or beg your email senders to send to an address like kevin@lifehacker.com.kukoo.com. In some ways, the modern age of auto-fill composing would make this easier for your clients or co-workers to get on board with; in other, more cynical views, certain insistent folks would know they can just cleave off that kukoo.com appendage and make your email checker ding or blink.

So it's an idealistic tool, but one that's well suited to those strict about their email process. You set up the times when Kukoo will tell your senders you typically respond to email, and it process it in its replies—senders get an easy to read time table, or a message indicating that "It doesn't look like Bob will be getting back to you today." You can, of course, set up your own auto-responding message for your stock email address, but Kukoo makes shifting your schedule on certain weeks and setting up advanced rules easier. Plus, the service provides day-to-day or hourly email stats, similar to what one can do with Mail Trends, and works nicely as a site you almost never have to log into.

Kukoo is free to use, requires a sign-up and email address verification (no password needed) to use.

Control and Cut Down on Compulsive Web Surfing

For many people, the Internet's countless web sites, viral videos, and other distractions just can't be overlooked, despite important goals to meet. To that end, WebWorkerDaily outlines some tips for getting compulsive web surfing under control.

Photo by teamaskins.

WWD rolls out a five-point plan, one they claim is needed to eliminate the gap between what you think are your biggest time wasters from your actual time wasters. The distinction is an important one because, without accurate data, any other efforts to cut down on your web wandering will probably be unsuccessful.

The plan starts with a simple pen-and-paper audit to identify where your attention goes (aside from, you know, this site). They also suggest setting up visible reminders, like a sticky note with an arrow that points to the screen and the words, "Is this really what you want to be doing right now?"

Once you've got the first step down, the full five-point plan helps you figure out why you engage in such behavior and offers ways to kick the compulsive surfing habit. If you need more help, take a look at previously mentioned time-sink eliminators KeepMeOut and Freedom, then come and share your compulsive web surfing habits and any proposed solutions below.

Zoning Out Is A "Crucial" Mental State, Studies Say

We've offered tips ranging from using unplugged earphones to motivational wallpaper in an effort to help you stay better focused, but now studies suggest that it's also "crucial" to let your mind zone out.

Photo by taylorkydd.

Discover Magazine references several studies on the importance of zoning out, including a University of Santa Barbara case that asked participating students to read from—what else—War and Peace and to tap on a computer key when they weren't thinking about the book. On average, the students reported wandering off topic 5.4 times in 45 minutes. Depending on the experiment, we may spend even more time—up to 50 percent to be exact—not thinking about the task-at-hand.

All of which, the article says, is a good thing.

The regions of the brain that become active during mind wandering belong to two important networks. One is known as the executive control system. Located mainly in the front of the brain, these regions exert a top-down influence on our conscious and unconscious thought, directing the brain's activity toward important goals.

Of all the ways to let your mind wander, zoning out is considered to be "the most fruitful type." It was also found that sad thoughts allow for more wandering than happy ones. In either case, wandering may help the mind search and find solutions more effectively than constantly trying to keep it in focus.

Benefits aside, this does not mean you should strive for a permanently zoned out state. As the article cautions, "It is one thing to drift away for a few lines of War and Peace. But if you're pondering where you'll be in five years as you drive through a busy intersection, you may not be around in five years to find out."