An Awesome E-mail Keystroke Time Saver: SHIFT_Delete

The great thing about leading programs on time management and personal organization all around the country is that I get to occasionally learn a few really good tips from the people that attend my programs. This is one of the best e-mail keystroke strategies that I have learned in some time. Accordingly, I have to give a big “thanks” to one of my recent course attendees, Nancy from Boston, for this wonderful e-mail suggestion. It is a very simple keystroke command that helps MS Outlook and other popular e-mail program users deal efficiently and ruthlessly with SPAM and junk e-mail in their inboxes.

The tip is a simple tip to use whenever you receive a “junk” or “spam” e-mail in your inbox, especially for those messages that you are suspicious may harbor illicit content, malicious spyware, or possible viruses. Most of us have learned the “Double Delete” strategy (delete suspect messages from your e-mail inbox, then delete again the same items again from your deleted items box also, so the message is knocked completely out of your system and thus cannot infect or harm your system). This tip helps you “shortcut” that process:

Rather than hitting the delete key to delete the message, and then going into your deleted items folder to delete the message again, instead just hit the “Shift” and “Delete” keys simultaneously. This will completely eliminate the message from your e-mail account in one step. (If you are an MS Outlook user, when you do this, Outlook will ask you if you are sure you want to fully delete – just click “Yes” or hit "Enter", and that message is GONE.)

If you are a user of other popular e-mail management tool, such as Lotus Notes or GroupWise, this technique should work for your e-mail system too, but it does not for all of you Mac users, nor does it work of browser-based e-mail programs like Yahoo! or HotMail (sorry!).

Now, you have no more need to “Double Delete” – just blast those junk and SPAM e-mails right out of your box once and for all!

Randy Dean (http://www.randalldean.com) is the "Totally Obsessed" Time Management/PDA Guy and E-mail Sanity Expert. A very popular speaker and trainer, Randy has led programs all around the United States on better time management and e-mail sanity. The author of the book, Major Satisfactors = Major Success, and developer of the popular speaking/training program, "Taming the E-mail Beast: Managing the Mess of E-mail and Information Overload", Randy is working on a new book and related DVD program on how to better manage your productivity and sanity related to e-mail and info overload. Randy also has popular speaking programs for conferences and association meetings, including his "Finding an Extra Hour Every Day" program, "The PDA Power Program", and "(RE)Awakening the Passion and Energy in Your Work and Life", as well as highly rated training programs, including his highlight full-day "Time Management for Busy Managers, Leaders, and Professionals" course. You can learn much more about Randy and his upcoming courses and programs at http://www.randalldean.com.