If you, like me, receive hundreds or even thousands of emails in a day, then it can sometimes feel like you have no way of controlling them or the demands they make on your time. Even trying to find a solution can result in an enormous list of different ways to manage the influx. So, being the helpful soul that I am, I’m going to add to that list of options in Google’s search with my own simple methodology.
Switch off notifications
Why? Because they take your attention away from whatever you are doing and your palms start to itch wanting to know what the latest piece of news is.
Then, when you go ahead and open the mail you find that a very kind man in a different part of the world has recently come into money and would very much like to share it with you, or that Dave in accounts really wants you to add up a set of numbers you’ve previously sent him. Congratulations, at this point you have completely lost track of what you were doing.
An additional side benefit of this advice is that there’s less chance of that embarrassing email from your significant other being broadcast in presentations. Trust me, with even a one line summary, an affectionate email beginning ‘Hi Squidgy ‘ can earn you a nickname for the rest of your time at the company…
Use rules
Get a bunch of emails updating you about things that happened overnight, or constant operational updates throughout the day? Divert them to a separate folder, set a recurring appointment to check them, check them every morning, whatever! Just don’t check them every time they arrive.
Organise and categorise
This one sounds simple but is probably the hardest to do consistently. When you do check your emails go through the following process:
- Read it
- Do I need to do anything -> If not file it or delete it (I’ll talk about filing another day)
- Do I need to do something with it -> delegate it
- If I can’t delegate it, is it urgent? -> File it in a “to do” location if not urgent
- It’s urgent but can I do it now in 3 minutes? -> If yes – do it, if no then mark it as urgent and add it to the to do list.
Just remember to check your todo list regularly…