We recently reported a slew of new features that have arrived to Microsoft Outlook and this included Boomerang, a cross-platform email and calendar productivity solution available for Office 365 and Outlook 2013. The add-in, which is already available for Gmail, was basically conceived as a time-saver, and less so a stress reliever. While the add-in has obvious benefits to anyone using email, it might best be described as foremost a business solution.

How does it work?

In short Boomerang for Outlook can schedule messages so that they arrive in someone’s inbox at a specific time, and if that email is not responded to, you will receive a notification that tells you so. Received emails can also be put on hold, and a designated time can be given so that the email resurfaces at the top of your inbox when you feel you can best attend to it. Another feature is the smart calendar assistant that allows users to schedule meetings in real-time without having to leave email.

It seems fairly straightforward, but given Microsoft’s excitement about the new add-in – first announced at the Microsoft Build Developer Conference in April 2015 – we decided to contact Boomerang and get a more detailed explanation as to why, or how, the add-in might work for our readers. At the same time we were curious as to how Boomerang might benefit mental well-being.

Wasting Time

One of the first things Boomerang talked to us about was a study from the U.K.’s Loughborough University concerning email interruptions. The study found that it took an average of 64 seconds for an employee who was interrupted by an email notification to return to their work at the same rate as before they were interrupted. What this means, according to Boomerang, is that what essentially looks like being busy – clicking back and forth when email notifications appear – affects what is “real productivity”.

“And that’s really what we’re about,” says Boomerang, “Building software that enables people to be more productive in their communication and collaboration. That’s one of the main things that sets us apart from competitors and why Microsoft chose us to be a launch partner.”

By only checking your inbox at set times during the day, Boomerang believes employees will be more able to focus on the work at hand. Boomerang makes sure that you don’t need to check your email every five seconds to make sure you get a response to an important email. It’ll let you know when you need to follow up. It also lets you write any email or reminder at the time you are dealing with email, rather than when the email needs to go out.

Specifics

• Schedule meetings with just one email (instead of five)

Boomerang allows users to suggest times to meet right from your email to your recipient. You can select potential meeting times that work for you, and insert those times into the email as a clickable image with which the recipient can interact. The recipient can be on any device and any email platform; all they have to do is click which time works for them and meeting invites are sent to both of your calendars and the meeting is booked. No more back and forth about times and days that work or sending extra emails for invites.

• It matters when your email is sent

According to the folks at Boomerang, timing your emails will result in a better chance of them being read or getting a response. “Data shows that a well-timed email is 34 percent more likely to be read than a poorly-timed one,” says Boomerang.

The send later feature lets you write a message now, then schedule it to send later at any time. Unlike Outlook’s Delay Delivery feature, your computer doesn’t have to be on at the time for it to send. This might best succeed when sending emails across time-zone teams, and of course cut-down on the amount of time you spend bugging people who aren’t quite prepared to work a 24-hour shift. That can go either way though, as sometimes you may not want your recipient to know you were up at 4 a.m. finishing your proposal.

• It pays to follow up on your emails

Anyone with a busy inbox will tell you that certain emails you’ve written, even the important ones, occasionally are forgotten. Boomerang’s automatic reminder can take care of the odd memory malfunction. Apparently a follow-up message increases your chances of being responded to by 30 percent.

• No more toggling between your email and calendar

Boomerang for Outlook is context-aware, meaning it will detect dates or times mentioned in emails in natural language. Your calendar can then be viewed while still in email and tell you whether you can meet at that time or not.

• Eliminate human errors from meeting scheduling

Adding to the above-mentioned feature, you can then schedule a meeting in email without having to go back and forth between the calendar and therefore cutting down on mistakes being made. “Most importantly,” says Boomerang, “this feature prevents you from accidentally double-booking yourself or accidentally sending the invite at the wrong time because of a transcription error.”

On top of improving productivity you might argue one of the best reasons for sorting out your emails is how it affects your mental well-being. It might not be something we often think about, but according to this study the constant checking of emails is a major stress factor in our lives.  This would be hard to refute; all we need now is more out of office automated responses: ‘Gone to the beach’.

Photo Credit: Boomerang; Alan Cleaver via Flickr