How stuffed is your email inbox? If like you’re most workers, it’s full, way too full. It isn’t much of a surprise that 28 percent of the average worker’s time is spent responding to emails (McKinsey). You’re probably wondering how a tool that was designed to make our lives’ easier actually makes living and working more…well…work.
Abuse. Email abuse affects us all and consumes plenty of time. Here’s a few email tips from time management expert, Neen James, that can save you time and protect you from email abuse.
1. Setting up filters
At the 21st Annual Creative Training Techniques Conference, in front of a room full of trainers and managers overburdened by email, James suggested setting up an email filter early in her presentation. This is quite possibly the nicest thing you can do for yourself. Chances are that you know a few repeat offenders of email abuse: people including you in messages that don’t apply to you, spam and other nonsense destined for your virtual trash bin.
Setting up filters is a quick way to trim some of the fat from your inbox, and the good news is they’re relatively easy to create. For Outlook users, here are a few directions for setting up your filter. For Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo users, check out these directions to clear some of your unwanted emails.
2. “Reply All”
You’re probably familiar with the Golden Rule. It applies to emails as well. You wouldn’t like somebody including you in messages that aren’t necessary for you to read, so don’t do it to others. It’s important that we carefully consider who needs to read our responses. It takes less time for you to reply to all than the collective time it takes for all your coworkers to read it.
3. Saying, “No.”
You don’t have to read every email in your inbox. In fact, you probably shouldn’t. When someone sends you a mass mailing or hits “reply all,” you can refuse to respond. If the person needs to get a hold of you, let them address you specifically.
4. Email Charters
One of the nicest things a company can do for their team members is to create an email charter. Email charters reduce the amount of emails in an inbox by using a set of guidelines that help workers minimize instances of unnecessary messages. For help on creating your own email charter, check out emailcharter.org. The website offers templates and guidelines to get you started.
5. Confine Emails to Subject Lines
Although it’s not always possible, you could confine your emails to a subject line. James recalled a past client where, for short messages, workers would simply reduce their responses to subject lines. To signal that there was no more to their messages, they would type “EOM” (End of Message) at the end of the email. This method allows readers to skim through their inbox faster.
To learn more about how you can boost the efficiency of your organization’s emails, along with other efficiency solutions, check out our Time Mastery Workshop.
by Jordan Meyers
