Are you swimming in emails? Does your email inbox double as your To-Do list? Has checking or responding to your emails taken over your work week?

If you answered ‘YES’ to any of these questions, then you, like most people, need help managing your time through effective email management.

Here are some email management tips that have been tried, tested and proven to maximize your time and work day.

Email Management Tips

• Only check your emails 2-4 times a day at certain, scheduled times and only for 30-45 minutes at a time.
• Deactivate all audio or visual alerts on your computer that notify you of new emails as they come in.
• Only reply to URGENT issues instantly and defer everything else based on priority
• To prevent multiple replies from emails sent to multiple people, place your email in the TO: field and put all other recipients in the BCC: field
• Never use the REPLY-ALL function
• If you don’t want / need a reply, then tell people by putting a “No Reply Necessary” message in the subject line or email header / footer
• Do not sent “Got it” “Thanks” “Ok” or any other confirmation replies unless the sender specifically asks for it
• Use Auto-Replies to set expectations of response times and to prevent interruptions during focused work time
• Do not send, forward or reply to chain emails

Some of these tips circle around how you create and send emails, not just how others create and send emails to you. By setting the standard with your recipients you are helping to prevent unnecessary emails for yourself in the future.

Using common trash [bags] to turn an urban jungle into a place of unique and fun art.

Keep bananas from ripening too quickly…
Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.  If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Keep cheese fresher, longer…
Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.  It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Choose the right peppers…
Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Separate grease from meat when frying it…
Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

Make rich scrambled eggs…
To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream; then beat them.

Use garlic for taste…
Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Reheat pizza…
Heat leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove; set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the food channel and it really works.

Easily make deviled eggs…
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal; mash till they are all broken up Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy; squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done – easy clean up.

Reheat refrigerated bread…
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave next to a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Prevent weeds from growing…
Start putting torn newspaper in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants, overlapping as you go; cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic; they will not get through wet newspapers.

Pick up broken glass…
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.

Make your vacuum more flexible…
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reduce static cling…
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and … ta da! … static is gone.

Clean measuring cups easier…
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient (peanut butter, honey, etc.) and watch how easily it comes right out.

Clear your foggy windshield…
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopen a sealed envelope…
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Get rid of fruit flies…
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2 with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get rid of ants…
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it ‘home,’ can’t digest it so it kills them.

Have any tips of your own to add to this list?

It should be obvious by now that every real estate agent or broker needs to have a website and that every real estate website needs to have a plan to get people to it. What …