The Daily Lark

Folks keep asking me for productivity tips… Here is one of Michael Dell’s that I also use almost every day… A great way to follow-up on issues and ideas in the future is to create an email and delay the sending of it. 

I do this for anything important – or for ticklers that aren’t tasks.  Unlike task reminders that appear in a long list, when this hits your Blackberry or Inbox you can move quickly to forward it.  I’ll even type-in the email I’m going to forward in advance… “Just a reminder, you owe me a bright shiny object – I was expecting it yesterday…”

In Microsoft Outlook, to enable delay sending of emails at specified time and date later than current time, or postponing the delivery date and time, use following steps:

1. In the Message window (where you type your email content), click the Options button. Alternatively, click on View -> Options.
2. In the Message Options dialog window, select and tick the “Do Not Deliver Before” check box, under the Delivery Options. Then choose the desired send date and time to deliver the email by using the calendar and time drop down list.
3. Click Close and then click OK 
4. Send