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Keystroke for no more forgotten attachments

DISCLAIMER: I realize this entry nearly breaks the glass on the Cube Monkey Thermometer. Dwight K. Schrute and Michael Bolton would be proud. I would love to post something more stimulating or contemporary — maybe more along the lines of “Thrift-store or Name-brand: What flavor of Western shirts is totally in this season.” But I felt this lifehack was good enough to share at the risk of staining my non-corporate-hipster image.

After ten thousand emails sent, I’ve finally found a promising method for remembering to attach the file before I send it.

Alt, I, L

That’s the keystroke for attaching an email in Outlook (I’m not sure about other applications). I try to keep my hands on the keyboard as much as possible, so I love keystrokes.

I believe this technique works because it re-conditions the set of actions in the email process. Before, after I finished an email, I would move my right hand to the mouse. Typically, the move would be to hit the send button unless I remembered that I needed to attach a file. That moment is where the fault happens. When I make the move for the mouse, I’m already predisposed to hit send. The physical action of taking my hand off the keyboard has conditioned me to click on the send button. In this process, I have to go against the natural flow of my action set in order to make the attachment.

Now, sticking to keystrokes, the cognitive decision is integrated into the process. After finishing an email, the next step is to think “What next.” If I need to attach something, I still have my hands on the keyboard, so I hit Alt, I, L. If this email is good to go, I hit Alt, S — the keystroke for sending the email. I have removed the physical act that encourages to me to send the email right away. Re-conditioning is a success! Since I’ve started using the keystrokes, I can’t think of one time I’ve missed an attachment.

Having trouble remembering the keystroke? Try thinking of it phonetically. “Alt, I, L” sort of rhymes with “At File” like “attach file.”

I swear I’m cool.