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Email Management
Time is a valuable commodity with our hectic work schedules and busy lives. In a world where technology is constantly evolving, information is at our fingertips with the touch of a button. With access to so much information and so many people, how do you manage the stream of incoming requests and information?
To help manage emails consider using the tips below:
- Use two separate emails - one for work and one for personal use. This helps to manage the work-life balance. When you are at work, you are focused solely on the job requests and when you are at home, your attention is on your family and friends. Plus, you’re not overwhelmed with all your emails in one inbox.
- Upon entering email, scan your inbox for unsolicited mail. Create a folder for those emails so you can review them at a more convenient time. Alternatively, you may know that you are not interested in the email based upon the sender or title and can delete it immediately.
- Assess the amount of unsolicited mail you receive and determine if it is worth keeping. Open up unsolicited mail that you are no longer interested in and select “unsubscribe” at the bottom of the page. This will help reduce the amount of mail received.
- Create folders in email to archive old information pertaining to a specific topic. You can also use folders to organize current emails to temporarily get them out of your inbox. Establish a folder system that works for you whether it is alphabetical, by name, subject, or priority. Review your folders in order of importance.
- When entering into email, consider sorting your information by category. Sort by subject, date, or from (sender). For example, if you know your boss’s emails are priority sort by “from” and answer those emails first. Continue sorting through emails in order of importance.
- If you are listed as a recipient on a chain of emails, sort your emails by “subject” and keep the most recent email on that topic. This will provide the necessary communications along with attachments. Deleting the prior emails on this topic will reduce the amount of mail in your inbox.
- If you have a group of people you email on a regular basis with status updates, create a mail / distribution list in your contacts. When you create an email, you can select this distribution list thus saving you time and energy from having to type in the names each time.
- When sending an email, identify the topic and deadline in the subject line if applicable. This gives the recipient an understanding of what is contained in the email. If you copy yourself, you can immediately put this email in a follow-up file. Scan this folder on a regular basis to see what needs to be reviewed and identify actions that need to be taken.
- Use the “flag” function in email for follow-up reminders. This function will help you to maintain deadlines on emails requiring a prompt response by a specific date.
- Many times an email starts with a specific purpose. After a couple of passes back and forth, the subject may change. Change the subject line to reflect the current topic of the email.
Self-Reflection:
- Over the next couple of weeks, try some of the tips mentioned above and monitor the benefits. Is the tip helping you to manage your emails more effectively? If not, are there any other adjustments that can be made?
- For additional instructions on how to use a feature mentioned above go to your email inbox and type in the feature in the “help” or “search” field. Instructions will be provided on how to use this feature depending upon your specific system.
If you have email management tips that you would like to share we would love to hear from you. Send an email to contact@charmmdfoundation.org.
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