I have received more emails this week than I can keep up with. My inbox is bulging from not only the normal flow of work related correspondence but an onslaught of advertisements trying to get me to buy something on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, or Giving Tuesday. Enough already!
The only thing I need at this point is the time back I’m wasting on deleting my emails. So today, I dug up a list of actions steps to stop email madness. Besides the obvious “unsubscribe” here are 5 of my favorites to help bring back the sanity.
- Turn off the sound of incoming email. The “ping” on our nervous system is taking its toll.
- Use your filters. Flag e-mail that is directed only to you and weed out the mass mail or a cc. Send all social media emails to another file. (You can see the new puppy later.)
- Have co-workers declare in the subject line if the e-mail is “For Your Information” or “Response is needed”. This way you can respond quickly to the e-mails that need your feedback and read the FYI at your leisure.
- Sort email with your phone. It’s easy to tap edit in the right hand corner and deletes lots of mail very quickly. Without all the incoming mail, it’s easier to focus when you turn on your computer.
- Do not answer e-mail at your most productive time of day. Use this time to focus on important priorities. If you have senders that require an immediate response (like your boss) use your filters to flag those emails in a different color so you can quickly scan your screen.
For the full list of time savers follow this link and feel free to pass this message on to anybody screaming “uncle” or foaming at the mouth at the mention of email.
