Despite slack and many other messenger apps, the medium of email is still a crucial tool in our day-to-day lives. Email clients like Spark allow you to manage multiple email accounts across your many walks of life. Most of us have two accounts at least, one work and one personal. Yet, managing multiple email accounts can leave us feeling drained and disconnected.
Just consider some of the research over the years:
- The University of California, Irvine reported a correlation between the frequency of email checks and stress levels. The research revealed that individuals who spent more hours on email experienced higher levels of stress.
- Using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count methodology, it was observed that individuals who experienced high levels of stress tend to respond to emails in haste, using language that exhibits more expressions of anger.
- The Journal of Occupational Health Psychology highlighted the adverse impact of email incivility on employees' well-being. The study emphasizes that the accumulation of uncivil behaviour in email exchanges can contribute to stress and have detrimental effects on employees' overall health
That’s why at Spark we’ve reworked email into a more enjoyable experience. By reducing the time and frequency that you spend in email you can feel more comfortable and less stressed. Here’s a few of our top tips:
Use an AI assistant
With the new Spark +AI tool you can let Spark draft the bulk of your email for you. You simply need to use natural language when providing prompts and Spark will generate concise and effective emails. +AI can adapt the tone depending on the type of email you’re writing and can create replies based on the context of your conversations.
Our users find that it helps them overcome writer block and perfect responses in languages that aren’t their native tongue. +AI allows users to communicate confidently, without spending excessive time discerning the right way to format their email. When it comes to dealing with rude correspondence, just let +AI take the stress of replying for you.
Aim for Inbox Zero
Inbox Zero should be an email management philosophy rather than a hard goal you must reach every day. The goal here is an uncluttered inbox - and you can get there by making a habit of using Mark as Done and Set Aside to keep your inbox clean.
Once you have Pinned and Prioritized your important emails, you can use bulk Mark as Done to quickly select multiple emails that are addressed or irrelevant and move them to the archive. Set Aside is handy for when you want to save non-crucial emails for later - they are neatly stored in a widget at the bottom of your inbox.
Find the right time to answer
Sometimes it just isn’t the right time to answer an email, from schedule overload to not having the right information to hand. Spark can help offer some respite to a cluttered inbox by snoozing your emails, returning the message to your inbox at a more convenient time.
If you are too busy to decide what time suits best to receive your email, you can simply put it in the Set Aside folder. You get a feeling of comfort seeing a clean inbox, and at the same time, you have no need to hurry with answering.
Filter out unwanted senders
Imagine that you can make your inbox a space where there are only the emails you want to see. With the Gatekeeper tool, you can choose who makes it into your inbox and who cannot.
The first time a person emails you, you screen and decide if that person can send to you again. The senders are not notified if you block them in Gatekeeper and you can reverse the action at any time if needed.
A few more email tips
Group your important conversations: Group history of all communication with a person in one line, like in a messenger - only better.
Mute email threads: You might have provided the context you need, but the thread still goes on. To save your time and attention, you can mute threads which you’re done with.
Timing: The Home Screen allows you to set a specific time during the day to review and sort your emails, which can help you avoid distraction.
Schedule responses to emails: If you need to reply to an email but want to send it later, schedule a reply instead of keeping the email in your inbox.
Use keyboard shortcuts: The Command Center has a shortcut for every action you can dream of.
There are so many things that can erase your smile, email shouldn’t be one of them. Try Spark +AI with a 7-day free trial →
The Readdle Team 
