4 Things that Make Email Work Better For You

Email can be such productivity wonder at best and then a total time-suck at the same time.  It can get overwhelming to deal with all the emails, appointment requests and task assignments.  Are there days when you feel like you’ve accomplished nothing because the constant email distractions?  Then you might have email fatigue.

If so, keep reading…

There are some tips and tricks that I have learned to use to keep email under control.  But, before I get into those, let’s make sure we understand what email is not meant to be.

It is not an instant message program requiring immediate replies.  You don’t have to answer every email every time you look in your inbox.  You don’t need to check it constantly.  I like what Tim Ferris’s says about email.  “Get off the cocaine pellet dispenser and focus on execution of your top to-do’s instead of responding to manufactured emergencies.”

There are a bunch of tips and tricks to managing email.  Here are a couple I use.

Shut off the notification feature.  This is easily the biggest productivity killer there is.  You can be cruising along and making fantastic progress on a project and this pops up.    

      

This is the cocaine pellet dispenser at work.  You can shut this feature off.  I shut this off in 2005 and have never used it since.  Guess what?  I never got fired or died as a result either.  Here’s how to do that:

Also, don’t forget about that little envelope that shows up in the tray too. Get rid of it!

Here is one disclaimer on the notifications.  There are going to be certain people that you want to know when you’ve received an email from them.  Your boss might be one of these people. My wife is another, for me anyway. For those emails you can set up an alert to pop on your desktop similar to a notification.  It will only happen for those people you choose.  You will be given an option to read it now or later.  You can go here to learn about that feature:  Outlook Rules.

Funnel low priority emails to a folder.  This is one method that keeps your InBox from becoming a cesspool of useless information.  Only allow higher priority emails to enter the InBox.  Again, you can use the Outlook Rules feature to do this.

Batch-check your email.  I look at email in the morning, at noon and before leaving for the day.  The rest of the time is spent on higher priority tasks. It takes some getting used to. But, when you see how much you get done, it is amazing!

Okay, someone got upset with you for not replying right away.  Apologize and explain your email approach and how it makes you super-productive achieving the company’s mission and goals.  Who can argue with that?

How can you make your email more effective?  I’ll work on that next.   Right now, I have to check email.

Leave a comment if you have other ideas that can help with managing email.

Thanks,

Sean