Help with E-mail Auto Responder

[Rapid]

Hi. I'm trying to limit my e-mail checking to once a day for 1 hour.

I use Yahoo! Mail. Is there a (hopefully free) service that allows you to send an autorespond message to each mail sender once, to tell them about your new e-mail checking policy?

I feel that I need to train other people to call me if they have something time sensitive to tell me.

Or should I just let "bad" things happen until they get it?

Edit - I just inserted the following in my e-mail signature:

"E-mail Checking Policy: Due to an increase in project load, I am currently responding to email once a day around 4 p.m. or so, weekdays only. If you need to reach me regarding a time-sensitive matter, feel free to give me a call."

[tobyhede]

That is a really really really GREAT idea.

[Michele321]

Under "Options" in Yahoo mail, you can click on "Vacation Auto Response". There you can personalize your message, it will automatically go out to anyone who emails you, and you will still receive the message.

HTH
Michele

[jenlili]

And that, I believe, will go out in response to every message you receive, so no, it wouldn't be a one-time deal. But if you really want to train people to call you instead of emailing if they need a quicker reply, you'll probably need to tell them more than once. While the gifted person may get something in only 1/2 to 2 repetitions (how do you repeat something half a time?) the average person needs to be told 7-14 times. Have you ever noticed how TV commercials will repeat the brand name 7 times? And at McDonalds? They repeat things 15 times during your training before they expect you to remember it. (That's true, I heard it somewhere!)

[abcZen]

I take it you've been reading the four hour work week. Sadly my current job doesn't allow me that freedom (projects change very quickly) but I do think it's a great idea.

Let us know how it goes

[Rapid]

Well, the experiment was a total failure. I might have used the signature once. I found myself deleting the signature for particular persons (i.e. because it sounds a bit harsh) - I'm having trouble pulling the trigger.

I still check my e-mail numerous times a day, although I'm better at not replying to every single one. I can see how checking e-mail can be detrimental to one's mental peace of mind.

Anyway, I know that there's an autorespond service (hopefully free) out there that have people click on some link to verify that they're not spamming the receiver, and then send a one-time e-mail to lay out the e-mail checking policy. I did a search for autoresponder services. The ones that came up are for managing sales mailing lists, which is not what I'm looking for.
Ideas?

[Rapid]

I should also mention that I use my Yahoo! e-mail for mainly non-business-related correspondence.

ADDED: I was just thinking - other people don't always respond to my e-mails within a day, a few hours, sometimes not at all. So why do I even need to tell them about some new e-mail policy? It will only create in their minds the expectation that I'll be checking my e-mail at a certain time of the day.

I think that in my mind (probably due to my upbringing), it's rude not to reply to e-mails and return people's phone calls. I have to remember that responding to people is a choice, not an obligation.

ONE MORE ADD: Folks, I think I will conduct an experiment. I will reframe from checking e-mail until Friday. Of course, I'm concerned that I will miss some urgent news. I will report my success or lack therefore in a few days.

[carenkh]

I just read about this service on Clicked - Hit Me Later You can forward your e-mail to their address, and they'll send it back to you when you specify. That might work for me - I tend to save e-mails to respond to "later", then a couple weeks later when I'm cleaning out my inbox: D'oh! I meant to reply to them! I could have them re-sent to me when I've set aside time to deal with e-mails.

[Rapid]

Hi, everyone. I've been going without e-mails since I last posted two days ago - except this morning when I had to e-mail a colleage the address for our meeting location. I was in my account for six minutes and then I logged off.
So now I'm less than two hours away from Friday. Woohoo!

It seems that I've been surfing the net less too. I have to admit, I had moments sitting in front of my computer during the past few days, looking at the monitor and not knowing what to do! Not checking e-mail created a void/space in my life.

An acquaintance of mine told me yesterday that she hasn't checked her e-mail for a few weeks. I said, "Good for you!"

I'll check my e-mail in 1.75 hours, and then I will set a new e-mail detox goal.

ADDED: Hi, folks. Just finished checking my e-mail. No crisis. My next e-mail detox goal is: no checking until next Tuesday night. Wow, that's about five days!

[Rapid]

I had to go into my e-mail account on Friday to find someone's phone number (I need to start an offline address book. lol). As a result, I started reading a few other e-mails as well. Time spent: no longer than 5-10 min. I was really conscious of time though and wanted to get off quickly (I didn't reply to any of them - figured that they can wait until Tuesday night). I ended up getting p'd off about one of the e-mails. I was so mad during dinner with my parents (it was my dad's birthday too!) that I unconciously started to reach for fish (see my Vegetarian/Vegan/Raw food experiment post). I began to feel bad about my foul mood. I told my dad what had occurred and apologized. We talked about it, and my foul mood started to disappear - slowly. Next day I decided to shoot a quick, short reply to the e-mail message in question (let's just say that my reply would have made a difference to the people involved). Then I logged off.

I posted the above to show how a message could linger in your mind even after getting out of your account.

Other than my minor transgression, I've been contacting people using my phone.

[pkeod]

Sign up for a Gmail account, acivate your yahoo account with your Gmail account (show that you own it). Then setup all of your yahoo e-mail to forward to the Gmail account, and then use Gmail's built in features (the vacation feature would work) to send auto replies to people who e-mail you.

[Rapid]

Thanks for the suggestion about Gmail!

I did not check e-mail at all on Sunday. Yippee!

Yesterday I did check my e-mail but I can't remember what for (most likely briefly since I can't even remember what I did). I didn't send out any e-mail at all.

It wasn't hard psychologically to undergo this experiment. As I move more of my communication (and address book) offline, I may be able to check my e-mails only once or twice a week!

[pkeod]

Congratulations I once let myself check my e-mail and news sites over and over, but now I set hard time limits on those sites so I don't have the option to waste time. Additionally, I have the pages redirect to a big fat DO IT NOW motivational picture after my time is up! If you have Firefox you can use the same extension

LeechBlock is a simple productivity tool designed to block those time-wasting sites that can suck the life out of your working day. All you need to do is specify which sites to block and when to block them.

[Rapid]

Hi, everyone. I'm starting to slip again. I will refrain from checking e-mail until Thursday night.

[Rapid]

Hi, all. Family members called to ask for my help with projects - sent via e-mail. So of course I had to check. Anyway, I probably need to designate Tuesday, rather than Thursday, as my day for checking e-mail (earlier in the week). My experiment hasn't been going well.

[Rapid]

Hi, folks. I started a simple address book in the back of my planner.

I had a friend who finally e-mailed yesterday in reply to my semi-urgent call (a month ago or so), citing work pressure and deadline as reason for her delayed response. Normally I might have felt upset with her late response, but I partially applaud her (I'm still a bit annoyed ) for focusing on her own needs for a time while brushing aside others.

Now I wonder whether we should count no response against people (even myself). No response could mean: they forgot, they are too busy (and you're not a top priority), they don't wish to connect, or they change their minds about connecting with you. In the past, I usually respond to people quickly (and spend way too much time on e-mail, for instance) because psychologically I see quick response time as an indication of reliability (part of my upbringing, I guess). I do want to be seen as someone who's reliable - perhaps this is one of the roots of my problem. How do I break out of this mind set?

[Rapid]

Originally Posted by Rapid

Hi, all. Family members called to ask for my help with projects - sent via e-mail. So of course I had to check.

So here's the solution: If this happens again, I will ask the family member to send his e-mail to my other e-mail account (normally reserved for junk mail), and I'll check that, and not my regular e-mail.

I shall refrain from e-mail checking until next Friday. [breath] Yes, I'll let little bad things happen. [breath]

[Rapid]

Hi, everyone. Did check e-mail on Saturday night for some info (can't remember what). That's it. I haven't checked my regular non-work e-mail since then. A family member did ask me for feedback on something; I had her send the document to my junk mail account. So far so good.

I've also encountered several more instances of people not returning my e-mails or phone calls "promptly," if at all. One reason cited: "I turned off my phone after ____ (a certain time)." It's good that other people guard their own time. Now I just have to do the same.

[Rapid]

Another day has gone by without checking my non-work e-mail. I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms. Anyway, I will try to hang on until Friday.

[Rapid]

I think that I'll check my e-mail now since I need to confirm a meeting for Saturday. Anyway, it's been a great experiment. I will limit my time spent to 30 min., preferably 15 min.

ADDED: I'm really happy that I checked my e-mail since my item on Amazon.com was sold yesterday, and I need to ship it out by tomorrow.