Articles > Productivity Ideas and Tips
Handling EMail - Beginning to tame the beast... - 7/17/2007
by Terry Monaghan
get through every single email that comes in every day, handling email
Have you noticed how much email you get in a day? Or how often it comes in? And, how much of it actually makes a difference?
I usually field somewhere between 70-100 emails in any one day. And, I bet I have less in my inbox than you do.
I actually get through every single email that comes in every day. And, I don’t have my email open all day long.
How can I do that? More importantly, how can you?
First, I have set aside a time each day when I go through my email. (I also turned off the on-screen notification that new email has been received. I found it too distracting.)
At that scheduled time, I open the inbox. As I go through everything in the inbox, it goes something like this. By the way, I go through everything in the order in which it comes in – that is, I don’t jump around the list opening items at random. You can sort your inbox whichever way works best for you. For me, it is sorted by date/time received.
Every item in the inbox falls into one of the following categories.
Read and delete. This category is for those messages that I don’t have to do anything with. They may be a quote, a joke, or just some information. But all I have to do is read them, and then delete them. And I do delete them.
Read and respond right away. This category is for those emails that can be dealt with immediately. Note, I said “can” be dealt with immediately, not “should” be dealt with immediately. For example, someone sends me an email asking for one piece of information (which I have readily available). I will read, respond with the information, and delete (since there is no further action required on my part).
Read and schedule for action. Obvious, isn’t it (at least to me). Read the message, discover that action is required, and either immediately schedule the action, or place the email in a “to schedule action” folder (which gets reviewed and emptied by the end of the day). Once the action is scheduled, I don’t need to think about it again until the scheduled time for the action. There are software programs that will even let you drag an email onto a time slot in your calendar. So, when the time comes around, you can click on the item in your calendar and it will open the email and give you what the necessary action was going to be. Much better than trying to remember it.
Read and file. Some information that comes in is about some future project, or something else that I am keeping in existence. It is now part of my reference material – but only if I file it that way, right away. For example, anything that comes in related to a specific project goes right into the file for that project, and nowhere else! So, everything I need when I am working on that project is in one place. Or, it may be information related to something I need for reference, in which case it goes into that reference folder, and is available when needed.
Divert. There are always some things that come in that you do not need to even look at right now. Most email programs have filters you can set up to divert these messages right into their own specific place. For example, newsletters or periodic communications from a favored vendor. It is very simple to set up filters so that these items never even show up in your inbox, but rather are diverted into a folder that you can review at your leisure.
Email can be overwhelming, but some simple procedures can tame it, and leave you more productive and in control.
List All Articles
|
