| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you have a strategy to cope with your email overload? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| My method too! | Aug 24, 2012 |
David Wright wrote:
delete the crap
| | | | NataliaAnne 
Brazil
Local time: 05:05
Portuguese to English
| I don’t have an overload | Aug 24, 2012 |
[quote]neilmac wrote:
I have several accounts, and try to use one main account for "business" correspondence only. ...
I like this approach in theory but, when I gave it a go a few years back, I found I got annoyed at having to open different email accounts.
My email is manageable if I check it every day. I don’t get automatic notifications, I’ve trained friends and family not to forward me junk, I unsubscribe/block any annoying businesses that manage to get hold of my email; all that’s left is stuff I genuinely want/need to read.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 04:05
English to Spanish
+ ...
| No email overload here | Aug 24, 2012 |
It irks me that words are bandied about with no thought as to their true meaning. And this is a forum for translators?
First, what is overload? According to one of many reputable online sources, the MacMillan dictionary, to overload is to give a computer more information than it can process (fourth meaning).
According to Netdictionary, it's the state of being completely overwhelmed by the amount of email one has received. That's another meaning, but closely related to t... See more It irks me that words are bandied about with no thought as to their true meaning. And this is a forum for translators?
First, what is overload? According to one of many reputable online sources, the MacMillan dictionary, to overload is to give a computer more information than it can process (fourth meaning).
According to Netdictionary, it's the state of being completely overwhelmed by the amount of email one has received. That's another meaning, but closely related to the first one.
An email client (Outlook, Gmail, Eudora, etc.) suffers from overload if it has no filters or ways to set up rules to handle unwanted email. If you know how to use your email client, email overload is a nonissue.
Now, if I were to feel overwhelmed by email, there are many theories. Do I feel overwhelmed by incoming emails in general or just by unwanted emails? Maybe I have filters and rules in place, but if a close friend keeps sending me FW:FW emails or some other crap, then I might feel overwhelmed by his behavior. Of course, deleting unwanted emails can be counterproductive because we have to set time aside for it. Then again, in my own personal situation, there are only 3-5 emails that I have to delete every day while I read the really important emails that reach my inbox. When an email becomes irksome (such as the ones I kept receiving from an insurance agent), I set up an Outlook rule to permanently delete the offending entry and/or reply the sender in no uncertain terms that his messages are unwelcome. ▲ Collapse
| | | | JaneD
Sweden
Local time: 10:05
Member (2009)
Swedish to English
+ ...
I'm with neilmac on this one - I have one "real" email account, a further one for family and friends (who are too prone to sending those awful chain joke things to be entrusted with my real one) and a variety for spam-generating signups to things, depending on how obvious it is that the respective site is only asking for my email address in order to send me a load of rubbish on a daily basis. The most spammy email addresses get checked perhaps once a month.
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Yes, I have Mail Washer installed. Great free programme. I start it, delete everything I don't want, and then click Send/Receive in Outlook.
| | | | Patricia Charnet
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:05
Member (2009)
English to French
like David said I delete garbage and I sometimes bounce back emails
| | | | | Not just about deletions | Aug 24, 2012 |
Luckily my inbox contains mainly my business emails and I "manage" them with a subscription of ActiveInbox on gmail. It is a cool plugin.
| | | | | Only marginally | Aug 24, 2012 |
I have filters, but they often filter too much or too little. I am interested in so many things that I receive e-mails across the spectrum, about 300 a day, nearly 100 of which I want to check quickly before I delete them. I'm finding that important messages are ending up in Junk Mail and Norton's Spam, so I check those every couple of days as well. Many of them have to be checked before I delete them them; I wouldn't trust a program to do it.
It's an overload, but it's a big part o... See more I have filters, but they often filter too much or too little. I am interested in so many things that I receive e-mails across the spectrum, about 300 a day, nearly 100 of which I want to check quickly before I delete them. I'm finding that important messages are ending up in Junk Mail and Norton's Spam, so I check those every couple of days as well. Many of them have to be checked before I delete them them; I wouldn't trust a program to do it.
It's an overload, but it's a big part of my life, and I just try to minimize the time it takes. ▲ Collapse
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| I don’t have an email overload either... | Aug 25, 2012 |
I don’t have an email overload either, but I used to, when I still had gmx and hotmail accounts...
| | | | Steve Derry
Spain
Local time: 10:05
German to English
+ ...
| I'm with David on that. | Aug 25, 2012 |
To be fair, it's easier to do than when I previously worked in the Public Sector where the amount of emails was staggering, both in terms of quantity and level of nonsense, and it was harder to separate the wheat from the chaff. A rough proportion would be 1% wheat and 99% chaff%. Particularly irksome were emails from someone sat no more than 5 metres away with the obligatory 'read receipt' which normally resulted in them being deleted immediately to watch the sender inwardly tut to themselves.... See more To be fair, it's easier to do than when I previously worked in the Public Sector where the amount of emails was staggering, both in terms of quantity and level of nonsense, and it was harder to separate the wheat from the chaff. A rough proportion would be 1% wheat and 99% chaff%. Particularly irksome were emails from someone sat no more than 5 metres away with the obligatory 'read receipt' which normally resulted in them being deleted immediately to watch the sender inwardly tut to themselves. Now as a freelancer it seems much easier to differentiate between those that are work-related, from friends and family and the tantalising offers to assist a West African General convert my never heard off uncle's inheritance into cash by merely providing my bank account details.
Neilmac - I don't know what my 'pop 3' is either, but it seems to crop up on a regular basis and I take it to mean "you haven't got a hope in hell of sending an email for the next 30 minutes - go and put the kettle on".
On a serious note, I use a Mac, and the 'Mail' feature seems pretty good at weeding out spam and the likes. ▲ Collapse
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