As I wrote here – e-mail was on my mind. Inevitably then, I spoke to my buddy TJ about it here.
Working Tools 39. Hey! Yay! Nay?
Today, I’m writing about the dance craze sweeping the nation.
Only kidding. I’m still blethering on about e-mail.
I have been trialing Hey for more than a week. I’ve read the manifesto (seriously, there is one), watched the 37 minute walk-through, and a ninety minute “Q & Hey” on Twitter. I do like a good pun, so that’s a definite plus.
Day one
“What? I can’t archive? Ridiculous.” My palms were sweaty. Not knowing exactly where every e-mail was, made me anxious. I have forwarded my legion of accounts into Hey, but still have them downloading to other clients as a control.
Day three
“Where’s that email gone? WHERE IS IT? This is nonsense.” (It was in the “already seen” section.)
Day five
“Right. I’m going to watch the Q and HEY.” Jason Fried, CEO of Basecamp talked of the “toughest period of launch”; the first few weeks after release. He explained how feedback pours in from early adopters, users like me, attempting to make the new thing more like the old thing. Everyone tries to mould the new app to their existing workflow. Apparently, the trick is to nod, empathise, and ignore this feedback. The whole point is to change the workflow. “Pah!” I sipped my coffee dismissively.
Day seven
“You know, that Fried fellow might have a point. Perhaps for personal e-mail, Hey and its backward workflow is just the ticket. Impossible for work though.”
Day eight
Isn’t e-mail fun? Work would be fine in this, once they enable signatures.
Day nine
Today. They’re on to something. They have turned how I think about email on it’s head. There are things that can be improved, and one or two of them already have been. All the signs are that the service will go from strength to strength. Hey for Work, custom domains etc, are all in the works.
Conclusion
Will it be for me? At the current rate of evolution, my opinion by Day 14, may have moved all of my accounts irrevocably to Hey.
There are a load of really interesting features on Hey. Too many for me to go through (read about it here)– but the the key change for me – is the reset of the default.
My inbox-zero driven workflow is all about decisive action. Open a mail and deal with it, kill it, file it. Never do nothing.
With Hey, the default is…let it go. Do nothing. Unless you need to. It’s all a bit zen.
Nevertheless – right now, my issues are…
- Custom Domain. “Look – you can have firstname@hey.com, isn’t that cool?” Well, it’s OK, but I can also have anything@stuartlennon.com which ain’t bad either. Besides, my first name, and its diminutive, were gone by the time I arrived. If I sign up now, my outbound mail will come from a hey.com address, that ultimately I will dump, in favour of my own domain. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until custom domains are available?
- Split apps. I really like having my work / personal mail split. I don’t want a unified inbox. Nor do I want several inboxes (or even imboxes) in one app. I’d like to have three instances of the app on my phone, each with a different coloured icon. Why? Because sometimes, I’m not at work.
So, where am I?
I will subscribe for personal mail. My custom domain will forward to it until there is an offering from Hey, at which point, I’ll have another decision to make. You can email me at stuart.lennon@hey.com
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Members 78. Goals and Projects
Last week, I wrote about the importance of routines, and how I was defending my time against all-comers.
On the 1857 podcast, TJ and I were discussing productivity in general, and the productivity industry (or racket) in particular.
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More from the Big Compliance Festival
Over on Lime, I’ve been looking at Fraud and AML during the pandemic.
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Writer Interrupted
Episode 3 of Writer Interrupted, the Patrons-only podcast released yesterday. Patrons can log into their account for a personalised link.
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Adulting 101
1857 a podcast that I record with TJ Cosgrove, released a new episode yesterday. A long one too!
Get it wherever you listen to podcasts, or here
Heavy Duty
Yesterday, over on Nero’s Notes, I was getting all Heavy Duty.
Working Tools 38. E-mail Revisited
A huge attraction of going iOS-only, or iOS-first, is simplicity and focus. iPad can do all sorts of multi-tasking, but for me, works best as a single-focus device.
Accepting that my corporate work is easier done on macOS than iOS, has redirected my thinking on workflows.
I have three groups of e-mail addresses.
- Lime Consulting (Lime). A family of addresses and domains that all come to me.
- Nero’s Notes (Nero’s). As the above, but with some traffic directed to Clare.
- stuartlennon.com (SL). My own domain, and several older personal email addresses. G-mail and iCloud, for example.
The Lime addresses were aliases of SL. Nero’s forward to SL. That way, I had a unified inbox. Sent mails all came from SL. (Unless I remembered to select the Lime alias.) It was uncomfortable.
Corporate clients expect e-mail to come from a corporate domain, with a corporate signature. This runs contrary to modern thinking. The fashion amongst the “Techeratti” is to have no signature, or a minimal one. This overlooks the inconvenient fact, that for a UK entity at least, it is a legal requirement to include the registered address and company registration number on all correspondence.
Nero’s customers are less picky. Nevertheless, some wise souls like to have an email chat before sending money to a website, new to them. A reply from a different domain is hardly reassuring.
These issues are easily resolved. I split Lime from SL and then set up all three accounts on Mail. Three inboxes in one. Hmmm….now, I have folders and labels, all over the place. On iPad Pro its a mess. On iPhone, it’s horrible.
I am experimenting with having each group of mails in their own app.
iOS
Nero’s are G-suite addresses – so are a natural fit with the G-mail app.
Lime fits nicely with Fastmail, which feels solid and secure.
SL – these are more personal, less constrained, so I’m trying a variety of apps. Favourite right now, is Edison.
Keeping them separate allows me to segregate my duties. If I’m checking my personal mail, I’m not deluged with corporate stuff. If I’m working on one company, I’m not distracted by the other. There’s work to do on notifications per device, but thus far, I’m enjoying it.
Mac
All accounts into Mail. I use “Mail Steward” to back up messages. Old habits die hard, I guess. It plays nicely with Mail. There’s enough real estate and control to manage the multiple inboxes, folders and labels. Largely, I’m only on the Mac to do the Lime stuff anyway.
HEY
Then, my invite for HEY arrived. New, shiny and different. Will this fit in to my system? Where?
I’ll let you know, once I’ve finished testing it.
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Members 77. Routines
To borrow from gender: (What could possibly go wrong with this analogy?) I present as an extrovert, but identify as an introvert. For months, I have been secure in the mountain hideaway, sallying forth weekly to the supermarket and pharmacy. Sure, I’ve had a lot to do, but my destiny has been in my own hands. I have been responsible for everything in my world, my authority absolute.
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The Dark Money Files
Over on Lime Consulting, I wrote about the role of UK LLPs in global money laundering schemes.
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