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Mastering E-Mail Overload
According to a report released by The Radicati Group in May 2006, an estimated 171 million email messages are sent each day throughout the world.
Email is a part of every working person's life. This technology communication can make people feel crunched for time when dealing with e-mails in addition to daily projects and demands.
However, there are a few ways to efficiently deal with our electronic communication email demands. The following are a few tips:
- Stick to a schedule. Try scheduling a few select times each day to check e-mail. For example you may want to check email every two-hour throughout the day. When you are not focused on email, close the program. Closing the email program decreases the tendency to keep checking it, making your non-email time more focused for other projects.
- Write less. Emails do not need to be volumes of information. A simple, to-the-point correspondence is all it takes to communicate. Blackberries and other text messaging devices cannot handle large text messages, which is another reason to keep your emails short and to the point.
- Use the subject line to deliver a concise message. The subject line should only be a few words that summarize the email. This will catch the respondent's eye and it will make email storage easier since the content summary is in the subject line.
- Use templates. Do you find yourself answering the same question over and over? Try making an email template that can be easily sent. For example, make a sales / pricing email template if you get a lot of queries regarding product or service costs.
- Get the easy ones out of the way. See an email question that can be quickly answered? Respond and then get it out of your inbox. Immediately tackling the small stuff makes prioritization and communication easier.
- Use a color-coding option. In many systems, email messages can be flagged with a color coding option. Use the color flags to help you prioritize work. For example, high priority may be flagged red. Adding colors to emails makes it easier to identify items that need attention.
- Easy storage. Another way to organize your emails is to create folders for storage. Developing email folders can help you organize emails to specific tasks, actions or projects.
- Use the email rules option. Once you organize your email folders, you can then create automatic incoming email priorities. Most email programs have tools designed to deliver an email to a specific areas based on a rule you create. For example in Microsoft Outlook, you can right-click on an email and then left click on the command Create a Rule.
Email was developed to help people communicate easier and faster. Don't let your email control your workday. Instead, implement ways for your email to help you work and communicate more efficiently. |
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