I can see doing it for important emails that need it be retained. It seems easier to copy yourself and then file it in the right folder then going into your sent folder and moving it. However, bcc is more subtle. I have my settings to conversation in outlook, so I just look at the entire thread to see the history.
I think it is odd when people do it. Those people are typically odd.
I don't. I have coworkers who do. They say it makes searching easier, then you only have to search the inbox.
I don't understand this. It's just as easy to search sent mail. Besides, I don't like to delete anything. I don't know that I have the capacity to hold all that crap.
But sent mail includes all of your personal emails and emails to the maintenance guy to say that your office is freezing, and to coworkers regarding gossip and complaints, etc. So I do think just cc'ing yourself on actual work stuff and having it show up in your inbox is easier than sorting through all that other stuff in your sent mail.
That said, I'm too lazy for sent mail organization unless it is forced upon me (which happened at my old firm when they instituted a filing system where every single email sent required a client/matter number so it could be archived appropriately)
I do this maybe twice a month when sending an important email from our web interface or my phone, since neither auto save to the sent mail folder in my Outlook where I'll eventually look for the email 6 month later. But, I think it's odd to do it all the time.
I bcc myself on everything. I have separate folders for each project or matter and sort everything that way. I hate looking through the sent box it's like a black hole. I think ccing yourself looks kind of dumb when you can bcc yourself but I work with someone that ccs herself.
I've worked for people who do that. I'd assume it is to make sure they're filing the emails they send off away too, and it can be easier than sifting through sent mail? My folders only ever have what I receive in them, which can be flawed.
I think this is why. I end up with folders only of what came in to me, not my responses back out. I keep meaning to set myself up as a BCC but can't figure it out. I don't like the CC option, then people are wondering about it, like you are!
But sent mail includes all of your personal emails and emails to the maintenance guy to say that your office is freezing, and to coworkers regarding gossip and complaints, etc. So I do think just cc'ing yourself on actual work stuff and having it show up in your inbox is easier than sorting through all that other stuff in your sent mail.
That said, I'm too lazy for sent mail organization unless it is forced upon me (which happened at my old firm when they instituted a filing system where every single email sent required a client/matter number so it could be archived appropriately)
Either way, though, if you do these things, are the responses in your inbox, anyway? So isn't your inbox twice as crowded with your sent mail and your received mail? When I search my sent mail I search by a term so it's not difficult to find anything.
Your responses are only in your inbox if they were replied to (or if you cc yourself). If you talked about it afterwards, or if there wasn't any acknowledgement, you won't have it.
I've spent a ton of time searching my sent mail for emails I sent long ago because they didn't have the keyword I thought they would in them or because the keyword I can think of shows up in so many emails across so many cases. Would be easier if I filed them away with my received mail. Which would be easier if they were in my inbox.
Isn't this what "Sent Mail" is for? Why would you CC yourself? So that it shows up in your inbox, which you're using as a todo list?
If it's the latter, I've used Boomerang to move the thread into my inbox the next day or whatever.
YES. Boomerang is awesome!!
Basically you can set boomerang to automatically pop the email to the top of your inbox at a certain time/date or after a certain time/date - or even if you haven't seen a response in a certain amount of time. LOVE for things where I need something from someone, and I want to be reminded again in a few days if I haven't heard, but otherwise not think about it.
My work e-mail gets testy when I try to combine sent items and received items in the same folder. If it is something I need to archive it is usually simpler to CC myself than risk something important getting eaten.
My sent items are over 13,000 emails and deleted items has over 40,000 emails. Our network sucks and every time I open my "deleted items" Outlook freezes for 30 seconds or more while it tries to load.
Our Archive system is a nightmare to access and search. I have been with my company for over ten years, so my archived deleted items are over 200,000 emails and my archived sent items over 100,000 emails.
I clean out my inbox daily so the only items in there are the items that require my follow-up. It cracks me up that copying myself is potentially annoying people. Don't slam my system; it works!
Post by MixedBerryJam on Jan 29, 2015 16:17:32 GMT -5
I don't do this, but I have one possible explanation. Does the person work from home much, or have a second office or computer? Because in Outlook sent mail is saved locally, so if you're at home, your sent folder is all your messages you sent from home, and at work your sent folder is all the messages you sent from there. If you're at home and looking for an email you sent from the office you'd be sol. I will admit that sometimes I bcc myself if I think this might come up as an issue.
I don't get this. Don't you use the search function in outlook or your email client?
I get about 100 emails a day. If I CCd myself on everything I sent, I'd have 200. That would drive me insane.
I just flag important emails (both inbox and sent) until I have time to file them, and it's just as easy to search my outbox as it is to search my inbox.
I don't do this, but I have one possible explanation. Does the person work from home much, or have a second office or computer? Because in Outlook sent mail is saved locally, so if you're at home, your sent folder is all your messages you sent from home, and at work your sent folder is all the messages you sent from there. If you're at home and looking for an email you sent from the office you'd be sol. I will admit that sometimes I bcc myself if I think this might come up as an issue.
Ok, This explanation I can understand. It's not applicable for me because I can't check my email unless I'm on my work laptop and I bring it with me everywhere, but this is the only thing I've read in this thread that makes sense.