Hi !

There are great things about email not the least of which is the ability to communicate efficiently and quickly. Yet email can also be a tremendous time-waster.

 Checking your email every time your computer's "alert" beeps, is like agreeing to let people interrupt you any time they wish.

An inbox of unread email tempts us because it acts on our natural desire to want to get things done. In fact, when not managed it can distract us from our more important tasks or worse create serious hazards such as when people check their email while driving.  This month I offer an easy way to get ahead of your inbox.

Start by thinking of your email as you would other requests for your time.  Some requests are simply more important than others.  This simple, two-step process will help you decide what's important, what needs your attention, what can wait and what can go. It begins with:

Schedule Daily Email Appointments
Decide to check email no more than twice a day. Get out your calendar and treat email like any other meeting and schedule two “email appointments.”  The first, early in the day to scan, delete, and acknowledge new email and the second in the late afternoon or evening for email that requires a more thoughtful response.

TIP: Make the second appointment at least twice as long as the first.  For example if you schedule 15 minutes for your early email appointment, schedule 30 minutes for your later email appointment.

Scan, Delete, Acknowledge & Respond
Like paper, many people will start at the top of the pile and work their way down only to run out of time before they reach the one, truly important document in their inbox.  This is why I recommend that every time you open your email you go through these same four steps: Scan, Delete, Acknowledge and Respond. Here is how they work:

1. Scan through the unopened messages looking specifically for those from your VIP senders or those that need your expertise.  VIPs are individuals you are expecting to hear from regarding important information you’ve requested or current clients you are currently doing business with or, if you’re an employee of a company or organization, your boss. VIPs could also be close family members such as your spouse, parents or children.

TIP: Use your email system’s “flag for follow up” feature for those emails you’ve identified as VIP as well as for those requesting a specific response that only you can provide based on your own content expertise.

2. Delete emails you know are of no value to you by the sender or subject line or that are spam. Spam is generally easy to detect if your email system doesn’t catch it. Spam mail often has subject lines written in all capital letters or contains excessive punctuation. Spam may also include your name in the subject line such as “GREAT IDEA FOR YOU JOE!!!"

TIP: If you repeatedly receive and delete emails from the same sender, don’t waste your time.  Instead, unsubscribe right now.  Removing your email address from a mailing list generally takes just a few moments and you only need to do it once.  Incidentally, I won't take offense if that includes me. I don't want to contribute to your email clutter either.

3. Acknowledge VIP emails that require no more than a two-sentence reply. Otherwise, if the sender requires a more thoughtful response, acknowledge their email by letting them know you plan to get back to them as soon as possible. This way they know you view their time as important.

TIP: If you don’t have time to look at all those clever jokes, cute cat pictures or chain emails you get from your best friend, kindly suggest to her that you would love to hear “more about her life” but would prefer she not send you forwarded emails unless she knows they are relevant to you.

4. Respond to your flagged emails during your second “email appointment.”  Then when you are done, do a second sort to show the unread mail you’ve received since your first “email appointment” Finally, use the same scan, delete, acknowledge and respond method described above to prioritize your new emails.

TIP: Use your email system's sort feature to show only "Flagged" items before responding them. That way you won't be tempted to look at non-essential email. 

Finally, if you are unable to incorporate the daily email appointment schedule due to a busy travel schedule for example, make it a goal to use the same method described above by scheduling a longer email appointment for yourself every 48-72 hours.

Sincerely,

Lis Golden McKinley

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