urgent and important

Urgent and Important are Not the Same Thing—Even When It Comes to Email

At first glance, this sounds obvious: of course “urgent” and “important” don’t mean the same thing…there are even, like, totally different words for them. But when it comes to email, they are often treated as interchangeable, and the fact that we conflate these two different qualities speaks to a couple of perceptual problems that get right to the heart of what’s wrong with the email status quo. “Urgent”, of course, answers the question “When?” (The answer? “NOW!”), while “important” gives information about the “What?” of an email. But because of basic human nature, as well as a modern work culture… Continue reading Urgent and Important are Not the Same Thing—Even When It Comes to Email

A Simple Solution for Sophisticated Email

A Simple Solution for Sophisticated Email

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” —Leonardo da Vinci* It’s no secret that Steve Jobs was a big fan of simplicity. In fact he used the above quote (or misquote, see footnote) to introduce the Apple II, way back in 1978: That focus on simplicity has been an essential component of everything Apple has done in the past 40 years, and surely one of the most important factors contributing to their unprecedented success. From Timyo’s inception, we have sought to emulate that relentless focus on simplicity. Not only in terms of design, but also in the very essence of the product… Continue reading A Simple Solution for Sophisticated Email

the email status quo

The Email Status Quo is So Inappropriate

A Thought Experiment Indulge me, if you will, in a thought experiment that will (I promise) lead to an insight into exactly what is wrong with the email status quo. For the purposes of this thought experiment, please assume that you have a) a home, b) a kitchen, c) some dirty dishes, d) a husband or wife, and e) some out-of-town friends named the Petersons, who are f) really just a lovely couple. Supposition f) is not strictly essential for the success of this thought experiment, but you might as well treat yourself. Now, imagine you are at home in the kitchen doing dishes and your… Continue reading The Email Status Quo is So Inappropriate

update automation featured

How our last update helps your email with personalization and automation

There has been a lot of news lately about “AI”, “Machine Learning”, and “Deep Learning” – okay, so maybe not in “everyday” news, but in the news that I (and many other geeks like me) follow, and there are huge steps being made in these areas of study. It’s an exciting time to put your trust in robots! …or at least cede some control to our inevitable robot overlords. The addition of a simple tool But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. These robots still have some serious learning and tweaking to do before they can think for… Continue reading How our last update helps your email with personalization and automation

Timyo and the Life-Saving Importance of Built-In Expectations in Email

It’s no secret that at Timyo, we believe that sending email with built-in expectations should be the norm, and we are working hard to achieve that goal. Today, I wanted to look at one of the subtle advantages that becomes the norm when your workplace sends email with clear expectations. Before Timyo, there was no good way to communicate expectations in email quickly, clearly, and easily. The best you could do was to write detailed expectations into the body of the email, regarding when you wanted a response and what kind of action you wanted taken, but that is pretty… Continue reading Timyo and the Life-Saving Importance of Built-In Expectations in Email