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Email can cause you Frustration, Here's 6 simple things you can do to use email more effectively, and reduce frustration levels for yourself and the people to whom you send messages.
1. Use the BCC field when sending messages to your mailing lists. This means that you can send your message to lots of people at once, but none of them will know who else received the message.
If you put all of the email adresses in the TO: or CC: field, everyone will be able to see the email addresses of everyone to whom you sent the message. This can be embarassing at best - and illegal at worst, if you are charged with breaching Privacy Laws.
2. Use plain text email to send out information about meetings or events. Sending out huge attachments is inconsiderate and just plain bad manners.
3. Pictures. Be aware of what you are doing when you send pictures as attachments. If you send pictures from CD's that have been made from your photos, be aware of the file sizes involved. Sending and email with 5 megabytes of attachments can take an hour or so, and the person receiving the email will probably have to wait a similar time to collect your mail message.
4. Monster Downloads. Some people send emails with HUGE attachments, without considering the effect on the people to whom they send their mesages. I've been sent a 30 megabyte message that consisted on just 3 photos. (This would take 6 hours or more if it was sent to someone with a dialup connection! )
You can set your email program to collect only the messages under a size you specify - I'd suggest 500 kilobytes. Messages below this size will be downloaded quickly, and you'll be given the option of whether to download or delete any larger ones. This is a good way to prevent your mailbox from being clogged up by large files that you may not even want.
5. Viruses: Get a good antivirus program that scans your incoming email attachments for viruses - and a proper firewall like ZoneAlarm Suite that prevents harmful programs from sending out SPAM from your computer.
6. Attachments: DON'T send attachments to anyone without their knowledge. It has become normal internet practice for people to delete emails with unexpected attachments, because of the risk of installing harmful programs on their computers.
1. Use the BCC field when sending messages to your mailing lists. This means that you can send your message to lots of people at once, but none of them will know who else received the message.
If you put all of the email adresses in the TO: or CC: field, everyone will be able to see the email addresses of everyone to whom you sent the message. This can be embarassing at best - and illegal at worst, if you are charged with breaching Privacy Laws.
2. Use plain text email to send out information about meetings or events. Sending out huge attachments is inconsiderate and just plain bad manners.
3. Pictures. Be aware of what you are doing when you send pictures as attachments. If you send pictures from CD's that have been made from your photos, be aware of the file sizes involved. Sending and email with 5 megabytes of attachments can take an hour or so, and the person receiving the email will probably have to wait a similar time to collect your mail message.
4. Monster Downloads. Some people send emails with HUGE attachments, without considering the effect on the people to whom they send their mesages. I've been sent a 30 megabyte message that consisted on just 3 photos. (This would take 6 hours or more if it was sent to someone with a dialup connection! )
You can set your email program to collect only the messages under a size you specify - I'd suggest 500 kilobytes. Messages below this size will be downloaded quickly, and you'll be given the option of whether to download or delete any larger ones. This is a good way to prevent your mailbox from being clogged up by large files that you may not even want.
5. Viruses: Get a good antivirus program that scans your incoming email attachments for viruses - and a proper firewall like ZoneAlarm Suite that prevents harmful programs from sending out SPAM from your computer.
6. Attachments: DON'T send attachments to anyone without their knowledge. It has become normal internet practice for people to delete emails with unexpected attachments, because of the risk of installing harmful programs on their computers.
Guide created: 05/07/07 (updated 07/10/09)
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