Author: Jacob Fagan

How to Successfully Clean and Organize Your Inbox Like a Boss Right Now

Nobody looks forward to waking up to emails everyday, so why not make it easier to sift through them? These six tips will help you organize your email inbox in seconds, so you’ll never be that person who has 37,000 unread emails in your inbox.

1. Take Advantage of Folders

If you’re like me, you wake up to dozens of emails every morning. Some are important, and some aren’t, but it’s a hassle to go through them all. Those important emails should be separated from everything else. Use a folder like “Important” and filter your inbox to that folder. It makes it extremely easy to sift through messages that matter without having to take an hour to get through everything.

2. Unsubscribe to Websites/Newsletters You Don’t Use

It may seem that it’s impossible to stop these pesky emails, but scroll to the bottom and almost always they have an “unsubscribe” button. It may take awhile, but set a time to get through them and unsubscribe from things you don’t actually read.

If you don’t have the time, check out unroll.me, which gives a list of all of the websites and newsletters you are subscribed to. It gives you the option to “unroll” from all the sites you don’t want emails from.

3. Empty Your Inbox of Unwanted Emails

How many of you have hundreds of thousands of emails sitting your inbox right now, unread? You can become much more organized if you get that number as close to zero as possible, but it’s difficult to do by hand.

Check out Mailstrom, which organizes all of your emails and you can click on the emails from certain places and easily delete them. It also gives you the option to unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters and websites.

4. Use Labels To Automate Emails To Certain Folders

If you want your unwanted emails to go to a folder automatically, label the email addresses to the folder you want them to go to. It’s tough to find, but click the triangle button in the search bar and you can enter the email address you want to move. You can also do this with email addresses you want to get, but just in a different folder, like “family”. I like to separate family from professional so I have relatives’ emails go to my “family” folder.

5. Quickly Delete Emails From a Sender

We all receive way too many emails from certain addresses, and even if they’re important, they stack up in your inbox. Search the email address and all the emails should pop up. And to get those deleted, click on the check mark at the top of the column and click the trash bin icon. I go through these at least once a month; there could be hundreds, whether it’s for school or a payment message, but they are gone in one click.

6. Delete Old Emails

Finally, while it may seem obvious, it bears repeating: Delete old emails! There are so many people who just leave all sorts of random messages cluttering their inboxes. Unless you have a specific reason for filing and labeling it, toss it. And no, deleting hundreds (or thousands) of old emails doesn’t have to take forever; in fact, it can take a matter of seconds.

On Gmail, for example, it’s easy to do this. Enter “older_than: 50d” and all of emails will show up, unread or not. To go back to tip no.5, use that tool to delete all of those emails. It’s an easy way to remove unneeded emails in one quick swipe.

I hope these tips make the task of going through emails easier, and you never have to worry about which newsletters or company offers you are subscribed to.

Want to Make a Great First Impression? The 8 Important Things Every Professional Email Has

In every aspect of life, whether it’s school or work, it’s important to be a viable communicator, and first emails can have a huge impact on the rest of your career. Follow these tips and you will stay on top of your game without ever worrying about if you made a good first impression after pressing “Send.”

1. Create a Good Subject Line

People easily ignore emails everyday because of the vague or lazy subject lines. Do not write “favor?” or “job application” as the introduction to your message. Make sure to be grammatically correct and then include your name and a to-the-point quick two words on what you want.

For instance, “Interview Request – Jacob Fagan” is direct and gives the reader all the information he or she needs, especially if that person doesn’t already know you (or is fielding lots of similar requests).

For more help crafting an effective subject line, check out this article on our blog.

2. Get Right to the Point

You don’t want to ramble on or make it hard for the recipient, especially because there’s nothing for them to lose when deciding to reply or throw it in the trash. Say who you are, your affiliate and what you want all in the same sentence. Keep any background information short and relevant to the conversation or request.

For more information on how to write a short email that gets results, check out this article on email mistakes and this one on beginner networking.

3. Leave More Than One Mode of Communication If Possible and Appropriate

Some people, like employers may want the opportunity to call you if need be, and including a social profile or two can also be helpful, depending on your field. This gives more options for them to contact you and could be the deciding factor on if they want to.

4. Include a Signature

This is important because it looks professional and has important information like your name, number, email, title, and website. Not only does it look formidable, but it’s also useful to the person you’re emailing. It allows people to learn more about you without googling, and if they want other ways to contact you, they can find it there.

Also, aside from basic contact information, avoid making your signature too long (it doesn’t need to be more than three or four lines) or showy. Steer away from huge fonts and any added flair.

5. Check Your Grammar

Employers and other professionals do not want to sift through grammatical errors, especially easy ones like “your” and “you’re.” Double check everything; run it through easy sites like this one and even have somebody look it over.

6. Pick One Format, Font, and Font Size

I’ve read countless emails that contained multiple font sizes and unnecessary formats. For me, I always stick to 12-size font, Times New Roman and default format without indents. Overall, it’s easy to read, and a change in font or font size can look unprofessional.

7. Use a Professional Email Address

Don’t use ponylover4345@hotmail.com for professional emails. Create a new one using your name only or just your school email. People won’t take you seriously with an immature email address.

Also, don’t be afraid to have a “work” email, but know that employers can still see your immature email on your Facebook or other social media sites, if you’re not careful.

8. Write at a Fifth Grade Level

Not everyone is like you; there are many people who speak and write differently, so make sure to keep your language simple. Whether you’re emailing your professor, a potential employer or another professional, stay away from “English essay” language. The most important aspect of the email is to make sure the other person knows what you’re saying. Keep it straightforward.

A first impression via email is never easy, because your tone and word usage can make or break a relationship. Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll write amazing email every time.

9 Quick Ways to Grow Your Bank Account Overnight

Looking for easy ways to make cash? It can be difficult to make time to earn extra cash as a full-time student or employee, but these easy tactics will make it easier to have more financial security right now.

1. Be a Note-Taker for Your College Classes

You won’t believe this: People will pay you money to become a note-taker in your courses! It’s an easy way to make extra cash in college, and while you might need to pay more attention in class, it’s only going to be helpful in the long run. How can you get started? Check in with your school’s dean of disability services to see if there are opportunities, or check out websites like OneClass. Pay is typically anywhere from $10-$30 per class, and those checks add up quickly.

2. Snag a Tutoring Job

Whether you’re in school or not, this could be something for you. There are multiple online sites that assist in helping find tutor jobs.

3. Become a Freelancer

Whether your expertise is writing, computer programming, video production or design, this could be a great way to earn money without working full-time for a company. Find something you’re interested in and try to master it before starting a freelance job. Ask your network to see if anyone is hiring for your skill, then head to WayUp and freelancer networks like Upwork to find gigs!

4. Become a Pet Sitter or Walker

If you love animals and need some extra cash, this is for you. It’s a good way to interact with animals if you can’t own one yourself, and who doesn’t love playing with adorable pets?

5. Sell Your Stuff

Sell your things! eBay and Craigslist are your friends that keep a stream of money coming in. If you never use something, throw it on eBay and make some extra cash. It can be time-consuming, but the rewards will add up. One of the biggest problems I have is deciding whether I’m going to use something again, and it’s not an easy decision. The quicker you sell something, the more value it’s going to bring.

6. Hoard Those Coupons

These can save you a whole ton of money in the long-run. There are many coupon sites online like coupons.com and hip2save. Some stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond also allow you to use more than one coupon, so your checkout price could be a fraction of what you were going to pay.

7. Pick a Day Every Week to Spend $0

This is a fun way to save money every week. Whether it’s making coffee at home or packing a lunch, this will become a habit every week. I’ve found myself having a couple of these days each week as a college student, which positively affects my bank account.

8. Automatically Transfer Money to Your Savings Every Week

That’s $80 of savings every month and close to $1,000 a year if you put just $20 in savings every week. It’s a great way for college students and young people in general to keep money in their pockets. Don’t be afraid to go without $20 in your budget for the week; just remember the interest will add up on it.

9. Get Rid of Satellite Television

This is huge, because streaming has become bigger than ever with Netflix and Amazon Video available on the computer. Switch from that satellite TV provider charging you over $100 a month to Playstation Vue or something similar. You can get 55 channels a month including basic cable for $29.99 or 70 channels for $34.99, among other options. Vue is a streaming provider that can be watched on Roku, Playstation 4, Amazon Fire and smartphones. Add in Rokus for $29.99, HBO Now for $15 and Netflix for $7.99, and that’s still cheaper than satellite providers. As a college student, these have saved me an incredible amount of money every month.

These money hacks are easy to use and can give you a lot of success. Any extra money is good money, so spread the word!

Hey, Night Owls: Here’s How to Be Your Most Productive Self

There are plenty of people out there who would call themselves dedicated night owls. While it doesn’t make you weird or a vampire (probably), being most awake at night can make it harder to be productive (after all, there are so many great YouTube videos calling your name at one in the morning).

How can you stay productive no matter how late (er, early) it is? Use these five tips.

1. Make a To-Do List Every Day for the Night

It’s unhealthy to stay up too late just to do nothing, so instead, make sure to make it a priority to do something every night.

Be sure to write down a huge list to help plan things out. It’s a good way to stay on a schedule and will be a helpful skill down the line. It’s also similar to a deadline, because it gives you a healthy amount of stress every day. Without a to-do list, it would create a false sense of security, because you “have all night” to do everything, and whether it’s a research paper, midterm, or a deadline at work, the failure to plan time out could be costly.

I recommend writing the to-do list on a real piece of paper, because it’s easier to refer to and physically writing something down can help your productivity.

2. Take a (Smart) Break

If most of the day consists of school and a job, it’s important to get some down time as well. Do something productive for an hour then take 30 minutes for yourself. Whether it’s socializing, jamming to music, watching a TV show, playing video games or listening to an interesting podcast, make sure to free your mind from constant stressing.

People always say it’s smart to stay away from mindlessly watching TV for hours, but the same goes for studying for hours without stopping; the stress becomes overbearing and it also becomes a mind-numbing experience.

3. Exercise

It’s difficult to find hours in the day to get the body moving, so why not do it late at night? If you have access to a late-night or 24-hour gym, take your notes, textbooks or podcasts with you and gear up for a power hour on the treadmill, or just do some jumping jacks or sit-ups in your room.

Not only does exercise improve physical shape, but it also improves brain function, according to this scientific journal entry at Harvard Health Publications. The study says moving your body reduces insulin resistance and inflammation, helps healthy cells grow and aids in creating the right brain chemistry.

4. Get Your Protein and Greens

With the lack of sleep, it’s important to add proteins and greens to your diet to give you more energy for the mornings. Try green smoothies or cooked vegetables with a chicken breast or another high protein meal.

Late at night, it might be hours since you ate a big meal, and it’s unhealthy to deprive your brain of food. At the same time, it’s important to fill it with the right things.

5. Stay Away From Caffeine (For the Most Part)

A coffee or soda to start the late night won’t be a big deal, but it won’t be healthy to replace water with caffeine every night. Alternate them, but for the most part stay away from caffeine or any kind of stimulant. Caffeine will make you go to sleep even later and cause a headache in the morning.

Why is too much caffeine a bad thing at night? According to All Things Considered, late-night caffeine consumption “resets your inner clock.” A separate study showed that a double espresso three hours before bed delays your “melatonin surge” by roughly 40 minutes.

Some of us are hardwired to feel more awake at night, and that doesn’t mean your productivity has to fall by the wayside.