How I finally cleaned up my Inbox — and how you can, too

July 16, 2013

Sarah Elaine Eaton, speaker, presenter, keynote, technology, social media, Calgary, Canada, educator, education, professional developmentI just deleted 5000 messages from my e-mail box without reading any of them. I admit it: I am an e-mail hoarder. I save all kinds of messages that I don’t need to.

This year, my business has grown and I find myself busier than ever before. My messy inbox was killing my productivity and adding to my stress levels. I have missed important messages from clients and colleagues.

So, I went to war with my Inbox. Over the past 24 hours I have been relentlessly and ruthlessly deleting unnecessary e-mails. Here are some of the messages I have deleted:

  • Newsletters
  • Event invitations
  • Thank you notes
  • Updates from friends, colleagues and organizations that I support
  • News alerts
  • Social media messages (e.g. “You have a new Twitter follower!)
  • Meeting confirmations for events that have passed
  • Photos

In addition to deleting unnecessary messages, I filed another 3000 or so. Now every message that I need to keep has been neatly filed and organized into a folder.

How long did all this take? Less time than you might think. Once I put my mind to it, I was focused and diligent. The entire process took less than two days.

The trick is not to open every single e-mail and read though it. I looked at the subject line and made an instantaneous decision: Delete or File.

I have been an e-mail user since the late 1980s — the dawn of e-mail. I have never been able to figure out how to keep my Inbox clean. It has taken me about 25 years to figure out that most messages can be deleted or filed.

It feels great to see, for the first time ever, an Inbox that is manageable.

As I get busier and my business grows, I can not afford to miss messages or have the stress of cyber clutter. For me, cleaning out my inbox has been an important step in developing personal leadership and self-management skills.

Is it your turn to clean out your inbox?

_____________________

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

How to delete LinkedIn contacts who spam you (and why you should)

July 14, 2013

Have you noticed an increasing amount of spam messages coming to your LinkedIn inbox? I have.

A few years ago, I adopted a LinkedIn Open Networking (LION) policy. I would accept connections from anyone who requested one. I have recently changed my mind on that for one single reason: Inbox spam.

The topic of LinkedIn spam has been growing online. This commentary by Andy Lopata in the Huffington Posts questions whether LinkedIn will sink in a sea of spam.

Lopata reminds us that LinkedIn can be a valuable professional networking tool, but that potential is often not realized. Sinking into spam tactics is bringing down the value of the social networking platform for all users.

Characteristics of LinkedIn spam

I have heard that technically, “Inmail” isn’t spam, but rather a message from a Linked in contact. I disagree with that. Spam is unsolicited virtual junk mail, no matter how it arrives. Spam messages are rarely personally addressed and even if they are, the content is generic. The content is not personalized or individualized. The hallmark of spam is that it is really never about you. It’s about them, their product, their website, their business, their search engine rankings, their whatever.

These direct messages seem to fit into one of these categories:

“Like” spam

I first heard this term from Daylan Pierce who wrote about it on his blog. This type of spam essentially asks you to “like” this or that. The reason people do this is that the more “likes” post gets, the higher it boosts their ranking in social media. If people really do enjoy a post or a resource, they’ll take it upon themselves to share it anyway.

Invitations

These are either sales pitches or calls for action that are couched as “invitations”. They are not actual invitations, but rather a mass message asking to you buy a product, visit a website, sign up for a program, etc.

Requests for reviews or feedback

As an academic, I have written reviews of professional products that have been published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. This is very different from LinkedIn spammers who send mass messages with requests for feedback on their latest product or project. If I’m going to spend my time reviewing a new product and then share that feedback in a public way, it is likely going to be a resource that really piques my interest. Spam messages do not pique my interest. LinkedIn spam messages asking me to visit a website (i.e. drive traffic to the website, for the purpose of driving its search engine rankings) and leave a comment (i.e. increase activity on the website, for the purpose of driving up its search engine rankings) get deleted, not reviewed.

Sponsorship requests

As if calls on a weekly basis from telemarketers asking me to donate to a cause weren’t enough, now requests come via LinkedIn spam. Here’s a hint: I won’t support spamming… or causes that ask for donations using this method. There are plenty of good causes out there that get my donation dollars. The recent flooding in my home town of Calgary is a good example.

 “Check out my latest __________” requests

Requests to check out the contact’s latest blog post, YouTube video, webinar or whatever is just an attempt to drive traffic to their sites.

I now have a new policy: If you spam me via my Inbox on LinkedIn, I delete you as a contact. No reply. No questions asked.

How to remove LinkedIn contacts

It is not an intuitive process to remove a LinkedIn contact. You have to go through several steps to do it. Here’s how:

Note down the name of the person you want to delete as a contact.

Click on Network. This will produce a drop-down menu.

LinkedIn contacts

Click on Contacts.

This will produce a list of your contacts.

On the left-hand side menu there is a box to Filter Contacts.

Filter contacts

In that box, enter the name of the person you want to delete. Hit enter.

That should produce a search result of the unwanted contact.

Check the box next to his or her name.

Then, in the upper-right hand side of your screen, click on “Remove connections”. That choice is on the far right of your screen:

Remove connections

This is a bit of a laborious process, but it is worth it. I have found that once someone starts spamming you with Inbox message, they do not stop.

Why I am no longer a LinkedIn Open Networker (LION)

I admit it. For me, being a LinkedIn Open Networker has failed. Instead of widening my network in an open and inclusive manner, open networking has filled my Inbox with unwanted messages that are a waste of time and energy.

I rarely send LinkedIn mail any more. When I do send Linked InMail, it is personalized, specific, to the point, and of legitimate value to the person or people I am writing to.

On occasion, I have received a message from someone I know personally who is working hard to build a new business or brand. If they send me a message asking me to visit their website or like something, I will do that for them… but the reason I do is because I know them personally. We already have a relationship and they are asking for a favor. I know, intuitively, that if I were to ask for a similar favor that they would do the same for me. The difference is the depth of our relationship and a sense of loyalty to one another. Spammers often do not even know who you are… They just spam everyone in their address book. There’s no depth to the relationship, no trust and no foundation of history or loyalty that justifies asking for a favour.

LinkedIn can be a powerful professional networking tool. Building trusting professional relationships takes time and effort… and it starts with caring about the other person as both a professional and a human being. Let your sense of personal leadership and a desire to cultivate meaningful professional relationships drive your LinkedIn (and all social media) activity.

Related post: De-grouping on LinkedIn to be a more effective leader http://wp.me/pNAh3-1De

_____________________

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

50 Adverbs to avoid in academic writing

July 2, 2013

Most academic writing is strengthened by eliminating adverbs. To emphasize a point, provide more evidence to support it. Avoid unnecessary words and in particular, adverbs. Instead, choose more precise verbs.

An adverb modifies or describes:

  • A verb (e.g. He runs quickly.)
  • An adjective (e.g. His writing is extraordinarily descriptive.)
  • Another adverb (e.g. He runs extraordinarily quickly.)

Often, but not always, adverbs in English end in –ly. Here are 50 adverbs that I have seen in academic papers that you can eliminate and your writing will be better for it:

  1. Adroitly
  2. Amazingly
  3. Awesomely
  4. Badly
  5. Basically
  6. Carefully
  7. Clearly
  8. Completely
  9. Convincingly
  10. Deftly
  11. Desperately
  12. Dexterously
  13. Effortlessly
  14. Extremely
  15. Faithfully
  16. Fundamentally
  17. Generally
  18. Goodly
  19. Honestly
  20. Inherently
  21. Instantly
  22. Interestingly
  23. Narrowly
  24. Naturally
  25. Nearly
  26. Necessarily
  27. Obviously
  28. Precisely
  29. Previously
  30. Preposterously
  31. Quite
  32. Really
  33. Relentlessly
  34. Simply
  35. Spectacularly
  36. Successfully
  37. Suddenly
  38. Surely
  39. Truthfully
  40. Ubiquitously
  41. Unequivocally
  42. Ungodly
  43. Unnecessarily
  44. Unquestionably
  45. Utterly
  46. Unwittingly
  47. Usually
  48. Very
  49. Widely
  50. Zealously

Often, when writers make a conscious choice to eliminate adverbs and instead find stronger and more precise verbs, the result is writing that is clearer and more powerful.

_____________________

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Awesome Chart for Teachers- Alternatives to Traditional Homework ~ Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

June 25, 2013

ephansen's avatarlearningcommons

See on Scoop.it – LibraryLearningCommons

Ephansen‘s insight:

Good for re-examining and changing perspectives and approach

See on www.educatorstechnology.com

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Creating Space for Strength: Public event

June 14, 2013

Last night, we had the opportunity to showcase eight months of work on our project “Creating Space for Strength: An Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) and Research Project for Calgary’s North Central Communities”.

The event was organized by Northern Hills Community Association. More than 50 people came to see the results of the community assessment including community leaders, citizens and funders.

Here’s a copy of the slides we used during our presentation:

Creating space for strength final report (slides) from Sarah Eaton

One aspect of this project that we found especially energizing was the inclusion of a youth consultation. I did a training session with the  Youth Council of the Northern Hills Community Association, showing them the steps to follow to do their own group consultation, so the voices of young people could be included in our results.

After the training session, the young people planned, organized and executed their own public consultation that engaged more than 50 young people from their community. After their consultation, they analyzed the results and presented their findings alongside us at last night’s event.

It’s pretty inspirational to watch a group of young people care so deeply about their community:

The event was covered by City TV and CTV, and featured an interview with a local community association leader who has been an integral part of the project.
Here’s a copy of our final report for the project (132 pages):

_____________________

If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Share or Tweet this: Creating Space for Strength: Public event http://wp.me/pNAh3-1Cx

Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

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