You’ve got mail…
Despite headlines to the contrary, email isn’t quite dead (yet)! Here's a list taken from the online Toolkit for Managers of five of the best apps and plugins that can help you manage your inbox, boost your productivity, and even help you achieve the hallowed status of ‘inbox zero’.
1. Rapportive
When you receive an email from someone you don’t know, it often takes a bit of digging around to find out who they are and where they work. If you’re lucky, they might have a customised email signature, but you’ll still need to scroll to the bottom of the message to find out.
Rapportive overcomes this issue by providing detailed profiles for each of your contacts. It builds these profiles by pulling data from social networking sites, allowing you to see who you’re talking to, where they’re based, and what connections you have in common.
2. Sidekick
Unlike messages on Facebook, Whatsapp and iMessage, the only way to tell if an email has been read is to request a receipt. And who does that these days?
Sidekick is an inbound marketing tool from Hubspot that notifies you when someone opens your email. The tool also makes up for another shortcoming of email by allowing you to schedule messages to send at a time of your choosing.
3. Ugly Email
Of course, there are occasions when you might not want your contacts to know whether or not you’ve read their latest email.
Ugly Email scans your inbox for tracking pixels, marking each tracked message with an ‘evil eye’, and allowing you to decide which emails you want to open. Think of it as Sidekick’s nemesis.
4. Unroll.me
A common complaint about email in the workplace is that very few of the messages we receive on a daily basis are actually relevant to our jobs.
Unroll.me is a mobile app that gathers all of your email subscriptions into one place, and allows you to unsubscribe from each of them with a single click. For those you want to keep, the app condenses everything into a simple, easy-to-read digest, removing at least some of the clutter from your inbox.
5. Zero
‘Inbox Zero’ is an approach to email management that was designed by productivity expert Merlin Mann. In simple terms, the goal is to keep your inbox as empty as possible, counteracting the stress and anxiety associated with ‘email overload’.
Zero is one of many mobile apps that are geared towards helping you achieve the fabled state of ‘Inbox Zero’. What sets it apart from its rivals, however, is that it converts your inbox into a scrollable feed, allowing you to deal with each email individually through a series of swipe gestures.
NB. You should always consult your IT department before installing third party applications on your office network!
If you’ve found other apps that help you manage email, then please share them in the comments section below.
