How to Manage Multiple Email Accounts
To manage multiple email accounts might sound like a complicated idea, but it can help you deal with your messages more effectively.
Whilst one account for everything allows for easy access, it has one big drawback...
It blurs the line between work and life even more than it is already.
Separate email accounts help you to keep your work at work, and to stop when you're away from it. They're easy to set up and freely available.
Don’t overdo it though.
Managing several accounts is contrary to 80-20 thinking. Two or, at a push, three should suffice. One for work, the other for ‘life’; subdivide both into folders for your various roles, goals and projects.
More than one email account means you need to set clear boundaries in your life and work. This goes for your emails as much as your time.
Do you access your workplace email account when you’re not working? Why? To get ahead or to catch up?
Do that and you’re playing with fire (well, time).
When you check your work emails at home, or away from your workplace, who pays for it, and how?
I guess you know the answer.
The best way to separate life and work is to keep them both in their places as far as possible and within reason. Creating and managing separate email accounts allows you to do this.
Can your work emails stay there? You could use one or more web based email account for personal emails.
There are numerous advantages and disadvantages of email -- one plus from doing it this way is that you can check your personal emails anywhere, but you can only access work emails at work.
Should you ever manage multiple email accounts at work?
Yes, if it’s time efficient to do so. Let’s be honest -- who doesn’t do this from time to time?
If you have easier email access at work than at home, it makes sense to deal with your personal emails in your working day.
Just make sure you do it when you block off some 'downtime'.
To sum up...
- Keep a limit on when you manage your work emails.
- Deal with them during your working day so you keep a clear boundary between your work and personal lives.
- Read and send personal emails whenever’s best, as long as they don’t encroach on your work time.
You can manage multiple email accounts –- you just need to keep them apart.
Do you need to get a better balance in your life?
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