How often does this happen? You start the day with great intentions for barreling through a list of priorities. But at quitting time, you’ve only accomplished one: getting (most of) your email answered and filed. You congratulate yourself on having done that, though a nagging voice in the back of your head whispers that, really, you haven’t done anything at all.
Email doesn’t have to consume your life. Here are 7 ideas for turning email into the tool it is, rather than the be-all and end-all of your days.
1. Lower the volume. When you email the same people too many times per day, they pay less attention. Ideally, your emails will be like eagerly awaited letters that, as a kid, you used to check the mail box for (remember that?)
2. Don’t ask to be kept “in the loop.” Trust your employees to do their jobs without your constant oversight. If you don’t think they’ll execute against goals you’ve set unless you’re cc-ed on every email, get a new team.
3. Return email in batches. Rather than answer each email as it comes in, set windows twice per day (when you’re not concentrating on more focused work) when you can crank out 10 replies at once.
To Be Continued ....
