Advice to "work smarter, not harder" and to "apply the 80/20 rule" — realize 20% of what you do is responsible for 80% of the results, so concentrate on those 20% (of which 20% will be responsible for...) — is easy to find. But how do you do that?
Work Smarter, Not Harder. OK. But How?
Let's say you spend minutes formatting each email, trying to save the world from Windows Mail's ills. (Windows Mail and Outlook Express really have a habit of creating emails that purists despise.) Do you enjoy that activity?
If not, you might be better off — saving hours of frustration — by adopting a slightly different style of replying to emails. Set it up once, relax, and profit continuously.
Set Up Windows Mail or Outlook Express for Lazy but Correct Replies
Now, to configure Windows Mail or Outlook Express so it creates neatly formatted replies with little effort:
- ›› Step by Step Screenshot Walkthrough (using Outlook Express)
- Select Tools | Options... from the menu.
- Go to the Send tab.
- Make sure Include message in reply is checked.
- Checking Reply to messages using the format in which they were sent is also usually a good idea.
- Click HTML Settings... under Mail Sending Format.
- Make sure Indent message on reply. is not checked.
- Click OK.
- Now click Plain Text Settings..., also under Mail Sending Format.
- Make sure Indent the original text with > when replying or forwarding. is not checked.
- Click OK.
- In Windows Mail:
- Go to the Advanced tab.
- Make sure neither Compose reply at the bottom of the original message nor Insert the signature at the bottom of a reply is checked under Reply/Forward.
- Click OK again.
Now, when you reply to an email, type the text above the line indicating the original message.
