Email Time Management

Managing Your Emails So They Do Not Get the Best of Your Time

Time management is very important in a life improvement setting, as time is a very valuable currency to trade. So any measure you can take to value your time or save time, is time well spent. Having that said, on with today’s topic. Nowadays, instant messaging is taking over casual or direct response communications, however a lot of communication is still going through Email. Email is great, and saves a lot of time. You no longer have to wait three or more days for someone to get a message from you. You can use it to be more organized, set tasks, and more. But, email can also get out of control and suck up a lot of time if you’re not organized.

Use Rules, Filters, Labels and Folders

Remember that simple is better than complicated so don’t go too crazy with these, but do create labels and/or rules and filter to help you organize your mail better.

Read Emails and Act Immediately

When you open an email, take care of it immediately. Read it, then act. If it requires nothing, delete it. If it has something interesting you want to note, use a note-taking program to save it. If it has a task, copy and paste into your to-do list and calendar.

Set Specific Times for Checking Your Email

Do not keep your email notifications on all day long so that you are constantly dealing with email. Instead, choose specific times during the day to check email, at the very least first thing in the morning, after lunch, and about an hour before the close of business. Let your people know your schedule so chances are getting higher you stay on top of your time management.

Create Separate Email Addresses.

The great thing about email addresses is in most cases you’re not limited to how many you can have. Do not go nuts, but do create a separate email for unimportant information such as business that requires an email sign-up to view information, or non-relevant newsletters. Separate customer service addresses are good too.

Be Free with the Delete Key, Essential Key in Time Management

It’s tempting to save all those cool newsletters with great points and things to learn, but the truth is, you’re not likely to ever read them again. Use your note-taking tool to keep the most important points, and then delete otherwise this will really mess up your time management efforts.

Create a Swipe File or Hot Keys with Automatic Replies

If you find yourself saying the same things over and over again, which is not uncommon, create a swipe file or hot keys that enable you to answer those questions again and again. Another way is to create a FAQ on your website and link to that specific answer.

Keep Email Replies Short and Simple

You don’t want to write really long emails to anyone. If you do, people will get confused and not really understand your answer. At the most an email answer should be about three or four paragraphs. If you include bullet points it will be easier for the recipient to act on.

Copy Tasks to Your Calendar Immediately

Use your calendar to its fullest advantage by copying and pasting anything with a date in it to your calendar immediately. If it’s a task, copy and paste to your project management system or task system too in order to stay on track with your activities.

A final idea for business owners, is to outsource anything to do with customer service to someone else. That way you don’t even need to deal with it. Using these tips and tricks can help you manage your emails so that they don’t take up too much of your time and effort. Taming the email monster will pay off in many ways and give you back more time each day to use on more important tasks. Succes in your endeavor.

Have a conscious day!

Filip