E-mail is great but it can be all consuming – how best to manage it?
Picture: Brittney Bush
1 – Don’t send urgent things by e-mail, just phone if it is important. Face to face is even better if you can.
2 – Don’t send e-mails to just one person unless it is just for information. If you are asking a question then pick up the phone. Avoid long e-mail conversations.
3 – If your typing isn’t very good then use e-mail less as it takes too long (or learn to type). Think about whether a phone call will be quicker than an e-mail.
4 – Don’t copy loads of people on your e-mails just to cover your back, your boss doesn’t need to see every e-mail you send.
5 – If you follow the first four guidelines then you will be sending fewer e-mails. The fewer you send the fewer you will receive, try to cut down.
6 – If you are regularly getting e-mails that you don’t need then tell the person who is sending them not to bother and how to communicate with you instead.
The first six are easy, the next two are a bit tougher.
6 – Check your e-mails less often, if no-one is sending urgent things then this becomes possible. How often will depend on your job but I only check mine about twice a day and could probably check them less often if I wanted to. Most people find this really hard at first but it is possible not to be checking every few minutes.
7 – In order to do 6 you will need to turn off all the notifications of when a new e-mail arrives, otherwise it becomes a distraction. Remember, you are in charge of your e-mail not the other way around.
And now for the hardest one…
8 – Don’t keep any e-mails in your inbox. Once a new e-mail is read then you have four choices:
- action it if it only requires a quick reply, and then file it or delete it
- put it in another folder of things that need doing and add it to your list of things to do if you keep one
- file it if you need the information for later
- delete it (be generous with your delete key)
This means that your inbox doesn’t get clogged up with hundreds or even thousands of messages. It is reassuring to be able to look at an inbox with no messages in it.
1 Comment
October 9, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I am currently reorganizing my inbox for the xx time. I never seem to find the optimal way to arrange them. I will try to follow some of these steps