Now the gadget manufacturer has a Windows-Mobile based unit that will allow me to end the conversions I do from my Windows-based desktop to my current PDA. (If that was all foreign to you, not to worry. It's not that important to the rest of this message.)
The point of the above is to say that the new gadget I'm eyeing will allow me unlimited access to my e-mail while I am on the road. As an independent consultant and speaker, I do not have the benefit of a corporate system to which I have e-mail access through a PDA. So I am both excited about, and dreading, the new acquisition. Still (in your minds), what's the point?
The point is that with the tiny, 3-inch screen of a PDA-Personal Data Assistant, e-mail length and frequency becomes even more an issue than it already is on the computer screen. To help usher in the PDA-based e-mail movement, here's a recent column I wrote with tips on keeping e-mail manageable for those tiny screens.
** E-mail Wheelies **
Wheelies wow them but you tend to fall down! Apologies to the WeeblesTM wobble ditty. Did I get your attention?
Wheelies are dangerous show-off maneuvers on motorcycles where the rider drives the motorcycle with one wheel in the air and one wheel in contact with the road. A lot of wheel-spinning is involved (pun intended).
E-mail tends to emulate the wheelie wheel-spinning by going on and on, traveling dangerously to incorrect receivers, and carrying messages inappropriately. You can avoid doing e-mail wheelies using the following guidelines.
- Keep notes to one screen-length so that the receiver need not scroll down the screen to read your entire
message.
- Use blind carbon copies when sending to multiple addressees to limit the addressing the receiver sees before getting to your message.
- Make your subject line capture attention.
- Edit your distribution lists once a month or before you use a list if not used regularly.
- Copy-and-paste text you want to send to others rather than forward notes to avoid sending information not
intended for sharing.
Think twice and review your messages before you hit the "send" key to ride safely with e-mail communications.
Sylvia
