Although email is an essential business tool, it can also
turn out to be a real productivity killer.
One survey showed that most of us spend more than a quarter
of our working day responding to emails.
So we can free up a lot of time by following these seven
tips on managing email effectively.
1. Stop checking your email every few minutes
The sense of speed and immediacy makes most of us want to
react as soon as an email arrives. But the old-fashioned
daily mail delivery was actually much more efficient. That
way you can plan your time more effectively and focus on
priorities.
So the first step in getting control over your email is to
stop checking it every few minutes and start checking it
twice a day. That means logging out of your email account
at all other times. And if you have a notification alert
that tells you each time an email arrives ' you need to
switch it off.
2. Set strict time limits on the time you spend checking
emails
If you decide in advance how long you are going to spend
dealing with emails, it stops you wasting time on the less
important ones.
It encourages you to act on the ones that need attention
rather than following an interesting link, reading jokes,
or following pointless discussions. And we are generally
more efficient when we concentrate on one type of task at a
time.
For most people, a limit of about 15 minutes at a time is
probably appropriate. Yes that is 15 minutes twice a day '
which may not seem much. But you'll be surprised at how
disciplined you can become.
3. Use separate email accounts for different purposes.
It's often worth considering having different email
accounts for different purposes. For example keep business
and personal separate. And have one business account for
important contacts and another for newsletter subscriptions
and mailing lists. You can then check the less urgent one
less often.
4. Scan first to decide what's important
Your email account doesn't know which items are most
important so it serves them to you in the order they
arrive. Many people are tempted to deal with them in that
order too.
Deal with your email in the way you would read a newspaper.
Look at the subject line and the name of the sender first.
That lets you concentrate your time and attention on the
most important emails.
5. Apply a one-touch approach
The best way to remain on top of your email is to handle it
quickly and decide whether to do it, delegate it or delete
it rather than spending too much time thinking about it.
6. Use technology to make email management easier
Email has time-saving technology built in but few of us
make full use of it. For example:
- create an easy-to-follow filing process using folders and
sub-folders.
- use the search function to find old emails.
- set up 'rules' to apply specific actions to messages that
fit these rules.
- set up autoresponders to avoid having to respond to every
email manually.
7. Create standard replies to common inquiries
You can create templates or standard wordings that you can
re-use by simple cut-and paste rather than creating the
same message multiple times.
So remember that email can be a productivity killer or it
can play a vital role in building your business and making
your day more productive. It's up to you to decide which
you prefer!
----------------------------------------------------
Robert Greenshields is a marketing success coach who helps
business owners and independent professionals who are
frustrated that they're working too many hours for too
little reward. Sign up for his free tips on earning more
and working less at http://www.MindPowerMarketing.com
No comments:
Post a Comment