Most people have more than one email account, and many of us have a handful of them, set up for various reasons and scattered across various platforms. Logging into each of these regularly can be a pain, eating into our valuable time.
If you’re someone with multiple active (and not-so-active) email accounts, then resolving to sync these accounts into one can save you hassle and mean that you’re much less likely to miss an important message or task. And if you use your email professionally, the boost to your productivity could be significant, too.
How Your Email Works For You
Start by thinking about how your email client could work for you. It may seem as if the answer to this is straightforward, but if made the most of, your email platform can do much more than just allow you to send and receive messages.
To effectively sync your various accounts into one, consider the functions and features that it’d be handy to have access to, such as a calendar, collaborative tools, and the ability to switch to video conferencing in-app. This will help you choose the email client to keep (or the new one to sign up to) and to which you’ll subsequently migrate the contents of your other accounts.
Think, too, about the style of emailing that works for you. Do you like the ‘traditional’ email platform, or would you prefer an option that merges the functionality of email with the streamlined, natural flow of instant messaging – think of a client that would work like iMessage on PC.
Taking the time to fully think these things through means that you’ll end up with a single email account allowing you to work – and play – smarter.
Never Miss a Thing
Syncing all your email accounts into one can, as mentioned above, mean that messages aren’t as likely to get missed, or urgent communications run the risk of going unnoticed for a few days.
A single account also makes using a priority inbox tool easier; some email clients will automatically separate your mail into what needs dealing with urgently and less important messages. In this way, your inbox remains uncluttered, and you’re not subjected to distractions as frequent, low-priority emails keep pinging in when you’re trying to focus.
Using a single platform also helps you stay on top of tasks: use the calendar and to-do list tools included in your email account to set reminders, so you never miss a deadline or appointment.
Easy Retrieval
Finding a specific message can cause a real headache if you currently use multiple email accounts. You’ll need to go through every single one of your accounts, scouring through your inbox and subfolders, hunting for the message you’re looking for, a process that could take a very long time.
Having a single email account makes retrieval a much easier task. As part of syncing your accounts into one, take the opportunity to have a deep clean of your inboxes – delete emails you no longer need and create a filing and archiving system for the rest.
You may also want to consider using an email client with advanced search tools to make finding a message easier when you need to get your hands on it urgently.
All Round Convenience
There are lots of little ways, throughout the day, that you’ll notice the convenience of using a single email account rather than multiple. There’s just one password to manage, for example, and a single login process to go through.
There’s also no need to search through multiple inboxes to find a recently received message or a communication you sent last week – but can’t remember from which address.
Benefits for Businesses
If you run a business, then having a single business email account, rather than multiple, is especially important. It means that you and your team will have one inbox to manage rather than a few, and it will eliminate the frustration of switching between screens or platforms frequently.
Using one business email account also makes for easier team collaboration and conveys a much more professional impression to customers and partners. Plus, if you’re paying a monthly charge to use multiple email accounts, these savings will quickly add up if you sync to a single client.
Before Making the Switch
You’ll need to make sure you’re not missing any incoming messages by merging your various email accounts. You could do this by sending out a simple message to all your relevant contacts confirming your new email address – you may also want to set a rule on the superfluous accounts to the effect that all incoming mail will be forwarded to the new address or the one you’ll be continuing to use.
Streamline Your Email
Ultimately, syncing all your email accounts into one will save you time and hassle and help you to better stay on top of your to-do list, tasks, and calendar. Why not make cleaning up your email accounts your resolution for the month? And use the time you save going forward to enjoy some of those social appointments you’ll now be less likely to overlook!
