Smart influencers give their best email tips, tools, and hacks

Smart influencers give their best email tips, tools, and hacksSmart influencers give their best email tips, tools, and hacksAs the editor of The Gmail Genius, a monthly newsletter to help users get the most out of Gmail, Ive gotten to peek into the deepest recesses of one of the most personal of digital spaces the inbox. Each month, I chat with people about their approach to email for an interview feature in the newsletter. Ive spoken to podcasts hosts, serial entrepreneurs, journalists, tech executives and many otzu sichs. Some have evolved systems and are quite methodical, while others admit to having mora unread messages than theyd care to acknowledge.Two things Ive learned No two people treat email quite the same way, and if you dig deep enough, almost everyone has something interesting or helpful to share about this ubiquitous part of our business and personal lives.After a year of interviews, here are the most interesting takeaways so farForget inbox zeroJournalist Ann Friedman says Inbox Zero shouldnt be the goal. If I hit Inbox Zero and stay there, thats when Ill know my career is over, she said. She prefers to think of email as a constant flow to be managed rather than something that can be zeroed out.Its like good dental hygieneMichael McWatters, director of experience design for rocknroller who created the email strategy for TEDs tech team, has tried dozens of different email clients and utilities over the years but says theres just no substitute for diligently going through your inbox and deleting, archiving etc. Its like a simple housekeeping ritual or good dental hygiene if you stay on top of it, youll avoid a mess and dental disease.Quit the inbox shamingMargot Boyer-Dry, founder and author of the Lorem Ipsum newsletter, suggests that if all else fails, maybe you need to come to peace with your unruly inbox. Im a creative person, therefore I get to have a messy inbox. I dont lose stuff Im a responsible responder, and I think its okay. Welcome to the club no more inbox shaming.Keep it off your phoneSol Orwell, a popular blogger and founder of examine.com, doesnt have his business email inboxes on his phone. Instead, he just has a personal inbox for calendar invites and movie tickets. I may read email, I may check it, but I do not respond to emails on weekends, he adds.In praise of slow emailSarah K. Peck, a 20-time All-American swimmer who runs the media company Startup Pregnant, believes in slow email. I can take two to four weeks to reply, which can be insane for some industries. I only answer quickly for things that are already on my schedule or are easy enough to do and fit in my allotted email times.Podcaster Jordan Harbinger says he uses the tool Send Later so that he can go through his emails as he gets them, but avoid the expectation that hes always going to respond right away. Ill write the reply while its fresh, but then Ill schedule it to send in a few hours or day. I dont want my inbox turning into instant messe nger, he says.The best time really is nowDont delude yourself into thinking youll have more time for email at some point, says Saya Hillman, the founder of Mac Cheese productions. Stop believing in the Perfect Time Unicorn and his siblings Better Time and More Time. The ideal time is never coming, so dont put things off, she advises. Your future self will have the same time as your current self. Its about prioritizing and what you deem important enough to actually do.Personalizing = more humanIf you really want your message to get noticed, take a cue from how some of the best networkers do it. A lot of super-connectors find ways to bring back humanity to the inhuman, says Scott Gerber, co-author of Superconnector Stop Networking and Start Building Business Relationships that Matter. They will actually create a video. Theyll literally shoot a 30-second video the fact that they mean what they say and not just put words on an email, the fact that they took time, and they can show the y took time out of their day to make this introduction because its that important.The right tools can helpPR Powerhouse Peter Shankman, the founder of HARO, says his favorite email trick hands down is Follow Up Then, a free tool to schedule email reminders.Ryan Robinson, the host of The Side Hustle Project podcast, says his savior tool is Inbox When Ready for Gmail, which hides your inbox so you dont see incoming messages. But you can still search and reply to emails. Its kind of like a mental hack - out of sight, out of mind.Susan Shain, a freelance writer specializing in travel, food and personal finance, says Pocket helps her manage her inbox. As a writer, I subscribe to a lot of newsletters - but rather than reading the articles from my inbox, and, 90 minutes later, ending up on a story about Justin Biebers latest tattoo, I control-click to add the stories to my Pocket. Then I read them on a lazy Sunday morning or, more likely, on a plane.Apart from her work on The Gmail Geniu s, Jaclyn Schiff is a strategist who loves getting her feet wet at the intersection of media, partnerships,and content. Her writing has covered topics ranging from healthcare innovation to travel budget tips to digital nomads. Shes had bylines at NPR, HuffPost, AllAfrica, Thought Catalog, The Muse, Modern Healthcare and others.