 
By
Kip Gregory
Time flies and those who study where it goes say most of us fall prey (at least on the job) to three common culprits: digging around for information, replicating answers for others and failing to utilize knowledge we’ve already developed.
Do you know that just 30 minutes a day spent on activities like those rolls up to more than four weeks of lost productivity a year? Sobering, isn’t it?
That’s why I focus so much on tools like knowledge journaling that are quick, easy, affordable ways of conquering the time-management challenge. This month’s tip shows you how to get more mileage from what you communicate via email.
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| Create a specific folder in your email in-box for putting copies of anything you plan to reuse.
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How often do you send out email content you’ve worked hard to create—things like responses to client questions, proposals, a description of your services, or maybe a comment on market or current events? Once a week? Once a day?
Ever find yourself thinking, “This is good! I should hang onto it and use it again.”?
Okay then, do you have a system for doing that, or at least a place where you can store that material and access it easily—so you don’t have to hunt around for it or recreate it from scratch the next time around?
If not, try this simple solution: Create a specific folder in your email in-box for putting copies of anything you plan to reuse. I call mine “Repurposable Content.” Once that folder is set up, whenever you create a message with potentially reusable material, add yourself to the “cc” list before sending it. When your copy of that message comes back to your in-box, move it into to your Repurposable Content folder.
You can also have your email program redirect those messages automatically. Type a unique code at the bottom of those messages—something like “a2rc” for “add to Repurposable Content”—and then create a Rule that tells Microsoft Outlook, or whatever email program you use, to move messages containing that a2rc text directly into the repurposing folder as soon as they arrive.
I’ve been using this approach for years, but what got me thinking about it now was watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on IMAX here in DC recently. In it Dumbledore, Harry’s mentor, has what he calls a Pensieve, a bowl in which he magically stores memories pulled from his mind with his wand. The result: less clutter and clearer thinking.
You can do the very same thing and in the process put minutes back in your day and weeks back in your year. All with the simple setup I’m describing. And you don’t even need a magic wand.
Give it a try and let me know how you make out.
For more tips like this one, sign up for Kip Gregory’s monthly e-newsletter Kip’s Tips.
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Kip Gregory, principal of The Gregory Group and author of Winning Clients in a Wired World, is a consultant, trainer and speaker on marketing, sales and technology issues for the financial services industry. Contact him at 202-364-6913, or through his website at www.kipgregory.com.
APRIL 2006
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