Life Of E's

We’ve all done it – allowed ourselves to be distracted by email rather than getting busy with the task at hand. Email, while often productive and important, can steal time in the most creative ways. Try these techniques, and encourage your colleagues to do the same. (Note: This email can be used as the topic of an office meeting – list it on the agenda as “Time Saving/Office Productivity.”)

1. Never send or forward “chain letter” email. You’ll still have friends and good things will still happen to you. As soon as you can tell that it’s “one of those,” hit delete.
2. Don’t send “bounce-back” emails (thanking someone for thanking you).
3. Learn to use the subject line as the complete email. End the subject line with which stands for “End of Message.” For example, send an email like this: “Office Meeting Time Changed to 8:30 a.m. .” No one has to open this email, they just read, take note, and delete.
4. Learn to use email folders. Usually it’s just a right click on your email inbox to create a folder (or ask your “help” program). As soon as you’ve processed an email and determined that you MUST save it, slide it into the appropriate email folder. For example, if you receive a confirmation of an airline reservation, once you’ve opened it and noted the times and flights are correct, put it in the “Travel Confirmation” folder that you’ve created. Depending on the type of business you do, you might have many email folders, but more than a screen-full is too many.
5. Set a goal to process everything in your email inbox EVERY day. Move items to folders or delete. Remember that you can usually retrieve things from your “Deleted” items for at least a few weeks depending on your organization’s policies, so don’t be afraid to delete.The idea is to become aware of email stealing your time and energy. 

   Be sure to check out the 7 Sane & Sensible Email Practices package for additional tips and techniques to keep email chaos at bay.

    

    

    

Tags: email, email management