Productivity Tips
Being
Productive
You’ll get the most out of NEO if you rely on its automated features to do most of your organizing for you. With that base, you can then use other NEO features such as filters to help you focus on the messages you need to.
NEO
Application Notes
To help you implement the most efficient way of working please refer to our Application Note on implementing time-management compliant workflow principles. You will find this Application Note here: http://www.emailorganizer.com/kb/T1165.php.
Our Online Email
Training
To boost your email efficiency and for a guided step-by-step implementation of the most efficient way to manage your emails, please subscribe to our Online Email Training. More information here: http://www.emailorganizer.com/training/training.php. .
An Introduction to
NEO Pro
Use NEO Pro to create and send mail just as you would with Outlook. Here are a few things to help get you on your way with NEO Pro.
First, get oriented by clicking each of the
Viewtabs
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For your favorites. Make an Outlook or NEO folder hot. Most popular view. |
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Manage your Outlook folders here just as you would in Outlook's Folder List. |
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All your regular mail is automatically organized into Correspondent folders for you. |
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For your e-newsletter type email. New Bulk Mail goes into the Unsorted Bulk Mail folder. Create your own Bulk Mail folders from there. Bulk Mail can also be assigned based on the subject. |
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Automatically organized by your Outlook categories. Easy to edit and manage. |
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A folder containing all messages in each state: Unread, Flagged, ToDo, Active, Important, .. |
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Date folders: Today, Yesterday, This Week, .. Dec 1999, Jan 2000, .. Feb 2006, Mar 2006, .. |
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All your attachments auto-organized into folders by attachment type (e.g., DOC, XLS, PDF, ..). |
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Enter your search words and NEO automatically searches across all your folders. |
How NEO works
NEO extends Outlook capabilities in many ways, but there's one feature of NEO that's worth knowing:
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Virtual folders |
NEO displays the same message in different ways.
They are displayed in their Outlook folders and in all the virtual folders that NEO Pro automatically creates for you. |
One more thing: don't worry about trying to understand all of NEO right away. Over time you will discover new things you can do.
Note you can continue to use Outlook just as before
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Click the Go to Outlook button on the the toolbar to jump to Outlook, or click {bmc DownArrowIcon.bmp} to jump directly to an area. Or double-click any of the following in your NEO Outlook view.
To return to NEO, |
Ways to use NEO
Using email involves managing messages and finding messages.
Here are three ways to manage messages with NEO:
Stay on top of your incoming mail
Like Outlook, all new mail comes into your Inbox. However, with NEO:
· Messages are much easier to find - there's less need to file to specific folders.
· Keep your Inbox small. Use it for your To Do - messages you still have to take action on.
Ok, so how do you keep your Inbox small without the hassles of filing?
The key is how you file. In NEO you can quickly move messages out of your Inbox. You can file to your recently filed-to folders, and you can file to a single 'quick file' folder that you designate - perfect for messages you don't want to think about where to file (after all, isn't that where most of the filing frustration comes from … deciding where to file a message).
Turn your Inbox into your To Do: file messages you are finished with but want save, and leave in your Inbox messages still requiring action.
Use Quick File to keep your Inbox small
Click Quick File on the toolbar to file to your designated Quick File folder, or click Quick File Recent on the toolbar to choose from other recently filed-to folders. Pressing Backspace will also bring up your Quick File Recent menu.
It all comes down to three easy keys - Delete, Spacebar, Backspace:
Remember: Backspace doesn't delete the message! It just helps you file the message to another Outlook folder, so you can keep your Inbox small.
In NEO Pro, there are other organizing things you can do with messages such as Keeping messages, Categorizing messages, and setting To Do for your messages.
Flexible filing to any folders
As with Outlook, you can also file by dragging to folders, using File to Folder, or Outlook Rules.
Focus on your priority mail
Bring forward your Correspondent mail
NEO automatically separates your regular Correspondent mail from your Bulk Mail (e.g., e-newsletters).
That's so you can choose when to just see your Correspondent mail, your Bulk Mail or both. Most NEO users just want to see Correspondent mail during the business day, and see their Bulk Mail at specific times such as first thing in the morning.
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Click icons to show just Correspondent or Bulk Mail messages respectively. |
Zero in on folders with Unread messages
You can also filter NEO to just see folders that contain unread messages.
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The 'Show folders with Unread messages' filter is especially helpful in Correspondent view but applies to Bulk Mail and Outlook folders too. |
Notice that when a filter is set the background color changes to green to let you know a filter is active (you can change the filter background color). To clear the filters, unclick them.
Things to do each day - or at least
often
Outside of your normal sending and receiving messages, here are the things you should build into your daily workflow.
1. Check your Unsorted Bulk Mail folder
NEO identifies new bulk mail and puts it here. If you don't use the Correspondent filter to filter out Bulk Mail you'll set it in your Inbox and can be managed from there too. However, if you do use the Correspondent filter, be sure to check this folder daily because the filter prevents this mail from appearing in your Inbox. You can also define, at first start-up, to place all new Bulk Mail under Correspondent folders and do the Bulk Mail assignment manually later on.
2. Maintain your New Correspondents
New Correspondents are easy to manage because they land in your New top-level folder in Correspondent view. It's easy to rename, combine or delete them from there, or right-click and choose Make Current to move them into your Current area.
Of course, you don't have to maintain your Correspondents like this, but if you do it's best to do it on a regular basis.
3. Empty your Spam Senders folder
If you block spam senders, you need to go to your Spam Senders folder in Bulk Mail view to view and empty it from time to time.
4. Empty your Deleted Items folder
When messages are deleted from NEO they go into the Deleted Items folder in Outlook view.
Finding Messages
Quickly
Search for a
message using the Search entry box
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Enter a search word into the Search entry box which is available in all views above the message listing. Press Enter (or click the left icon) to search through all message stores or press Shift+Enter (or click the right icon) to search only in the current folder. |
Search for a
message using the Search tab
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Click the New Search button on the toolbar (Shift+Ctrl+F). Enter car and press Enter or click Go. |
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You can even logical phrases like (car or bus) near accident. Or enter parameters to limit your search such as searching within a folder.
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Search on
Conversation
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Highlight a message (e.g,. with Subject Product Ideas) then click the Search on Conversation button on the toolbar (Ctrl+Alt+F) to find all messages in the same conversation. |
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Find a
Correspondent quickly
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Click the Find Correspondent button on the toolbar (Ctrl+F3). If looking for Fiona Mackay, enter mac in the Folder List filter to short-list your Corresondents for easy selection. |
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To clear the filter, click Clear or press the Esc key. |
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Jump to all
messages for a Correspondent (or Bulk Mail folder)
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Right-click any message and choose Jump to Folder (Ctrl+J) to display all messages for the person from the email, in this case, Terry Johnston.
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Learn keyboard
actions
Using the mouse is generally great but it can be slower for actions you do over and over again. Using the mouse along with keyboard shortcuts provides the best performance.
Consider all the time you spend moving your hand off the keyboard and onto to the mouse, then back again. Not everyone is a keyboard enthusiast, but even if you learn a few (or a few more) you'll save time.
Here's a technique for learning more:
1. Print the Keyboard Shortcuts on the Help menu.
2. Don't use your mouse for a few hours and instead use the keyboard shortcuts from the list.
3. Learning them all is too much - focus on the operations you perform over and over.
Some basic tips
Here are some basic tips for making NEO more productive for you.
u Work from Hot view and make folders hot
Spend most of your time in Hot view and go to the other views when you need to. Make folders from other views hot so you can see them quickly. Some hot folder suggestions:
o Correspondents you are currently working with
o other Date folders - This Week, Last Week, etc.
o frequently-used Categories
o any folder from your Outlook view Folder List
o Search Folders
u Keep your Inbox or Active Mail small
Whether you choose to work out of your Inbox or out of Active Mail, it really helps if you actively use the Quick File features or make messages Inactive to help reduce email clutter. Set your Backspace key appropriately.
u If you file to folders frequently, take advantage of Quick File Recent's accelerator keys
First
of all, set your backspace key to display the Quick File Recent menu (Tools |
Options | Workflow tab). Notice that
the first letter of each of your recently file-to folders is the accelerator
key. When used in conjunction with
Backspace, you can file without using a mouse. Here's what you type for these
sample folders on your Quick File Recent menu:
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Reviews Press Backspace then R to immediately file it. Meetings Press Backspace then M to immediately file it. Budget Press Backspace then B to immediately file it. |
u Use Active Mail actively and reset it often
The Active Mail folder shows new mail that you have received since the last time you reset it. If you reset it whenever you look at a message, you’ll be able to quickly see when new mail has arrived.
Press F11 to
go to Active Mail from anywhere in NEO
Press F12 Make
the current message inactive (reset Active Mail flag for this message)
To reset Active Mail flag for groups of messages, use the
following:
Press Shift+F11 to
reset All Active Mail messages
Press Ctrl+Shift+F11 to
reset Correspondent Active Mail messages
Press Ctrl+F11 to
reset Bulk Active Mail messages only
u Develop your own email workflow methods
There's plenty of flexibility in NEO to work with. Think about how you like to process mail and then put NEO's features to work for you. Review NEO's options and ensure they match the way you want to manage your email. Everyone will want to do it a little differently. Connect to our online Application Notes for workflow ideas – you will find them on our Knowledge Base.
u Use To Do
By diverting messages to To Do that you have to take action on, you won’t have to keep seeing them as new messages arrive in Active Mail.
Press F10 to go to To Do from anywhere in NEO
u Don't get distracted by unimportant mail
Use filters to filter out Bulk Mail until you want to read it. Edit the New Mail options so you are less distracted by unimportant new mail notifications.
u Don't forget daily housekeeping tasks
See Things to Do Each Day.
u Learn keyboard commands for actions you perform often
There’s a keyboard command (e.g., Spacebar to mark a message read) for just about any action you take. You’ll save time if you learn even a few.
u Use search to find messages
Search is very fast in NEO. Consider using it to quickly find messages. Use the search entry box available in all views to quickly get to your messages. Or press Ctrl+Shift+F to start a new search from the Search tab.
u Use the Folder List filter to find folders quickly
At the top of each Folder List you can enter characters to narrow down the list of folders. Using this, especially in Correspondent and Category views, can be a huge time-saver.
Press Ctrl+F3 to quickly find a correspondent in
Correspondent view.
Press F3 to go to the Folder List filter of the current view.
u Create Bulk Mail folders
Bulk mail consists of your mailing list messages and your junk mail. If you do nothing, both of these types of bulk mail get mixed together into your Unsorted Bulk Mail folder.
If you create bulk mail folders for your mailing lists, then your Unsorted Bulk Mail folder will then mostly just contain your junk mail –junk mail much easier to manage when it is isolated like that.