Streamlining Email

eNews recently published a really good article that provides helpful tips to decrease the amount of email that one manages each day. The article, "Buried in Email? Try These Six Tips to Dig Out," is linked here. Here are the recommended tips:


1. Don't check email first thing when you first start work. Do the most pressing thing of the day before you allow yourself to be distracted by email which tends to become a black hole. Email can give one the false feeling that you are actually getting things done when you are actually losing needed time.

2. Check email in batches instead of all day long as it is received. The author uses the analogy of doing laundry: you won't do a whole load for one pair of dirty socks, would you?

3. Minimize exchanges. This means learning to propose actions and alternative actions so that meetings can be scheduled and plans made with more efficiency. "I can meet at time a, b, or c. Let me know which is good for you and I will mark it on my calendar."

4. Limit sending email. Sending less means receiving less, and shorter emails generate shorter responses. (Be careful with this one and really think about the purpose of the email and the audience. Emails for logistics can be short and sweet. The trick is to consider if other situations are email-appropriate or phone call-worthy.) Also, before sending mass emails, consider if you have permission to use other people's time and mental space with the hottest chain letter or newest poem of advice.

5. Take it to zero. This sounds radical but the author suggests dumping your whole inbox and starting over if it gets too cumbersome. A quick email to your address book stating what you have done and asking people to resend anything pending or important would be in order.

6. Use other forms of communication. There are so many to choose from and now it is a true consideration to choose wisely the most appropriate form of communication.