Saving Time With Email Templates

If there are times during the semester that you find yourself writing the same email messages over and over again with only a little modification, it may be time to try the templates feature in Outlook or Gmail.

Check out the productivity tip video below to see these features in action.

Email Template Tips

• Make the message as generic as possible so it can be reused as often as needed. For example, I created an "Advising Appointments" template instead of a "Spring Advising Appointments" template.

• If you need to add an attachment to your email before sending it, make sure you use the word attachment somewhere in the body of the email. Both Outlook and Gmail provide automated reminders to email authors who try to send their emails before adding the referenced attachment.

• Use formatting options such as bold and underlined text to remind you of places where you need to modify or personalize your email before sending it.

Every Tuesday we share productivity tips like this one in our Spring-On-Call Community of Practice. It's not too late to join us!