ClearContext Corporate Blog

I’m late to the dance on this one, but Omar has pointed out that a video for the new Hotmail beta (code named "Kahuna") is available on Channel 9.  Interesting stuff going on in the webmail world…

Mark Hurst touts the advantages of emptying the inbox regularly in a Forbes article published yesterday:

"Here’s how to manage incoming e-mail: Keep the
inbox empty–clear out incoming e-mails before they pile up or you lose
your ability to manage them effectively."

He makes it sound so simple.  The article goes on to explain some ways to acomplish this task, including the use of the oft repeated "two-minute rule:" if you
can address the message in less than two minutes, do it and file or
delete it.

For more detail, read The Secrets to E-Mail Nirvana.

The Podcast Network interviewed me on their Productivity Show yesterday and posted it here.  It’s about 45 minutes long, and we spend most of the time talking through the features and functionality of ClearContext.  If you want to hear a more in depth analysis of what Inbox Manager can do, check it out.

I want to say thanks again to Cameron and Des.  It was a pleasure chatting.  Hopefully my enthusiasm for our product comes through in the show!

While interviewing for a podcast this morning (more on that in a day or so) it occurred to me that we have posted a wealth of great ClearContext usage tips on our blog that our new users might benefit from, but may not be easy to find.  Eventually I’ll find a place to post some perma-links on the website, but for now here’s a roundup of some of our more informative posts:

Three Things You Might Not Know About ClearContext – New users should start here, it includes information no customizing views, automatically saving sent messages, and enabling the ClearContext open message toolbar.

Convert Your Folders to ClearContext Topic Folders – a quick note on taking advantage of ClearContext’s automated filing featues using your existing folders.

ClearContext Proritization Adjustment – instructions for tweaking the weighting of ClearContext’s prioritization algorithm.

How To Avoid Exceeding Your Mail File Size Limit – use ClearContext to help proactively stay ahead of your company’s size limitations.

ClearContext & ActiveWords: a Script to Get You Started – for new users of the ClearContext ActiveWords Agent, this walks you through exactly what we can do.

Holiday Email Avalanche – You’ve got 100’s of messages in your inbox and you want to clear them out?  Follow these tips to regain control of your Inbox using ClearContext.

43Folders.com – always a great source of productivity information – has posted a bunch of tips for writing sensible email.  All are great recommendations and well worth the time to read.  I’d like to add one more – know your audience.  The content of your email should vary greatly by recipient. 

For example, I worked with a client who routed a lot of my requests
through his administrative assistant.  It was imperative that I
thank her whenever she sent me an email or I wouldn’t get a timely
response the next time I needed something.  On the flip side, the
client could not care less when I responded with my usual pleasantries
in email – "get down to business" is a direct quote.

Read Writing sensible email messages for more information on crafting effective email.

D. Keith Robinson has posted a long list of ways to handle your email better on Lifehacker; including tips for writing better messages and handling large volumes of email.  This one struck a chord:

"Sign your e-mail. At the very least your name if the
person you’re e-mailing doesn’t know you well. I get many e-mails from
people who’s e-mail address is funky, something like
purplebeast543@something.com, and it makes for an awkward response if I
don’t know their name."

Years ago I was working a large consulting gig at a major telecom company.  One of the independent contractors on the project had a somewhat unique email handle – let’s call it "TheTopDog@something.com" to protect the indifferent.  The first time I received an email from him I was shocked at the unprofessional image this conveyed to our mutual client.  Needless to say, the email address was a source of ridicule from everyone on the team and the contractor didn’t last long on the project.

Better yet, a friend of a friend shows up for his first day at work at a new, hip dot-com company in the late nineties.  When asked what he wants his email address to be, he replies "subtlewinds."  Turns out the company wasn’t THAT hip.  He didn’t make it more than a couple of weeks.

My post has morphed into something entirely different than I intended, but here’s where I close the circle: Email, like every other form of contact between you and your customers/ clients/ colleagues, is a chance to make an impression.  Make sure that you are conveying the image you want – pick a good email address, spell and grammar check your messages, use language that is appropriate to the audience, and put a good signature on all your email.

Read Special: Professional E-Mail Tips for more ideas.

Soulhuntre posted a comprehensive review of Inbox Manager:

“ClearContext is one of the tools that, even though I have only had it a week or so, has totally changed the way I relate to my inbox.”

That’s what we like to hear.  Given his mention of GTD, I think he’ll be even more impressed when we roll out our workflow features in v2.0 (more on that forthcoming).  Read his review for a thorough account of how ClearContext performs.

Our free license program is still in effect and we were happy to send a registration key out for this review.  If you put the word out about ClearContext, drop us a line and we’ll be happy to do the same for you.

*** The free license program has been discontinued. This blog post remains up for reference only

As I have said before, I am a big fan of ActiveWords and the impact it has on my productivity.  If you haven’t tried it out yet, go  download a free trial of the application and see exactly how it can help increase your daily performance.

If you read this blog, you know that we have been beta testing an agent that integrates ActiveWords with ClearContext.  We are very pleased to announce that we have completed testing of the ClearContext ActiveWords Agent and released it to production.  To download, go to our ActiveWords landing page:


The agent allows you to create keywords that trigger basic ClearContext functions.  Triggering ‘ccwizard,’ you can create custom ActiveWords that map to your ClearContext Topic structure, allowing you to categorize and file or send messages without taking your hands off the keyboard.  Honestly, I’ve been using these features for a while now and am finding that I can’t live without them.

For those interested, here’s the marketing pitch:

By using ActiveWords in conjunction with ClearContext, you spend less time managing email messages and more time focusing on email content.  The ClearContext ActiveWords Agent allows you to customize ActiveWords triggers that proactively categorize and prioritize your email conversations based on your individual email usage habits.  ActiveWords for automated filing instantly move an email message or message thread into the associated ClearContext Topic Folder.   Combine multiple Outlook and ClearContext functions by triggering a single ActiveWord to start a new Outlook message with a category (or “topic’) and/or priority proactively assigned to it.  All future email messages in that email thread will be assigned the given topic and priority.  In addition, sent messages in that conversation will be saved in the appropriate ClearContext Topic Folder – storing your filed and sent messages in one place for easy retrieval.  Base ClearContext functionality automatically prioritizes your email, with your most important messages appearing at the top of the inbox ready to be dealt with immediately.  Pre-built ActiveWords allow you to customize the way you utilize this functionality with time-saving ActiveWords shortcuts for prioritization, categorization, and filing.

A few notes:

1. To get the most out of this agent, we highly recommend you disable Microsoft Word as your message editor.  For more detail, see Enabling the ClearContext Open Message Toolbar.
2. For those new to either product, we have developed a demonstration script to walk you through basic ClearContext/ ActiveWords features for managing Outlook.
3. Thanks to all who helped test the Beta version of this agent. We have made minor changes to the initial release, but nothing worth a re-install if you’re happy with what you’ve got.

Enjoy the product.  Feel free to post feedback in our user forums or send it directly to support@clearcontext.com.

If you are trying out the ClearContext ActiveWords agent for the first time, I have developed a quick script that will step you through some of what integration of the two applications offer.  Try it out to see huge productivity gains as you manage your email.

1. After installation of ClearContext, the first thing you should do is find a view that works for you.  The default views present a color coded inbox, ordered by priority.  Check out our downloadable views page and see if there is a view that suits your needs better.  I’m partial to the Group By views, which look exceptional in Outlook 2003, but many new users prefer the more traditional Received By view with color coding.  (FYI – we will enhance the view selection process in our v2.0 release).
2. If not already completed, install the ActiveWords ClearContext Agent.  Follow instructions here.
3. Make two configuration changes to get the most out of this setup:
   1. Click "Save Sent Messages" in ClearContext Options – Tools > Options > ClearContext > Preference – this will ensure that all categorized sent messages will be filed in ClearContext Topic Folders.  (Look here for more information).
   2. If you have MS Word enabled as an editor, turn it off (our open message toolbar will not function with Word as an editor).  Tools > Options > Mail Format – uncheck "Use Microsoft Word…"  (For more information see here).
4. Create a few ActiveWords that map to ClearContext "Topics" – categories that you would like to tag to messages and file email under.  For example:
   1. Trigger ‘ccwizard‘
   2. In the dialog, create three new active words that assign the topic "Blog" and priority "High" to email messages – one that files the message, one that starts a new message, and one that sends the message (see screen print)
   3. To see the results:
      1. Open a message that you would like to file in the Topic Folder "Blog".  Trigger ‘fblog’.  We will assign the topic "Blog" and a priority of "High" and automatically file the message under Inbox\ClearContext Topics\Blog.  All future messages in that email conversation will automatically be tagged with "Blog" and "High".  In addition, any messages presently in your inbox that are part of that conversation will reflect these values.
      2. Trigger ‘nblog’ – a new message is started with priority ‘High’ and topic ‘Blog.’  Complete your message and send.  As above, all future and present email messages in that conversation are automatically prioritized as "High" and tagged with "Blog."  In addition, because you enabled Save Sent Messages in ClearContext Options – this sent message is saved in the ClearContext Topic Folder (Inbox\ClearContext Topics\Blog) rather than the Sent Messages folder.
      3. Compose a new message as you normally would.  Instead of hitting the send button, trigger ‘sblog.’  The message is automatically prioritized and categorized prior to sending and saved in the associated ClearContext Topic Folder.  All future messages are tagged with topic "Blog" and priority "High."
5. Finally, now that you can see how topics work, use Topic Assignment in conjunction with our filing buttons to rapidly categorize and file messages in your inbox.  For example, find a long email conversation in your inbox that you would like to archive.  Assign a topic to it from the Topic drop down list box on the ClearContext toolbar (or trigger ‘topic‘ on the message and enter a topic name or run ‘ccwizard‘ and create an ActiveWord that merely assigns a topic without filing…).  Now select Alt-D to file the message thread.  All messages in that email conversation are filed in the associated ClearContext Topic folder (Inbox\ClearContext Topics\{Topic Name}).

Once you get used to assigning topics and priorities to your messages, inbox management becomes a much easier animal.  Using ActiveWords to do this greatly enhances the way you approach these tasks – making it a snap to proactively categorize and file email.

We are very excited about this! If you’re an ActiveWords user, you are already familiar with the near magical things this  app can do for your daily productivity.  If you’re haven’t tried ActiveWords, take a gander at Marc Orchant’s review of the product in his Equation Tools series on the Office Weblog, then go download a free trial version of the software.

We are pleased to announce that a Beta version of the ActiveWords ClearContext Agent is available for download and testing.  You can download it here.

In a nutshell, the agent provides hooks into basic ClearContext functions so that you don’t have to take your hands off the keyboard to categorize and prioritize email, file/archive messages, navigate ClearContext menus, etc..  After install, trigger the ActiveWord ‘ccwizard‘ to build custom ActiveWords that map to your personal topic structure.  For more information on the advantages of using ActiveWords and ClearContext together to manage Outlook, see our ActiveWords landing page:

http://www.clearcontext.com/activewords/

Please send your feedback on this Beta product to support@clearcontext.com.  We look forward to hearing how the Agent helps you manage your Outlook!