Email / Inbox Management: Why This Matters!
Email management can be the easiest thing in the world – or it can be the absolute bane of your existence. Having a solid email management system in place can save you an unbelievable amount of time and while it may seem overwhelming if you’ve been neglecting your inbox a little too long, it is totally achievable!
When you log into your email at the beginning of your work day, the goal is to have only current correspondence sitting waiting for you. This is how you’re going to measure your day and determine right out of the gate whether or not you need to hunker down for the next couple of hours and power through, or if your day is suddenly much more flexible than you had thought. If you open up your inbox and there are thousands upon thousands (or more!) of unread, un-filed emails just sitting there, it can be hard to scan through and figure out what is actually important and what is spam, newsletters you forgot to unsubscribe to, memos you were cc’d on but that don’t actually apply to you, and other clutter that flits in throughout the day (and night). More importantly, it can be so deterring to see this and will can even throw you off your game, thinking about that mess that is waiting for you. The way I see it – calm your inbox, calm your mind! I’m going to outline here my hard and fast fules for implementing and maintaining that beautiful email management we all want – and need!
Auditing Your Inbox
Carve out a few hours to tackle this first step. Essentially what you’re doing here is reviewing any email folders you currently have in place and whether or not they are actually serving you, as well as reviewing any and all unfiled emails in your inbox. If your inbox is composed of folders like ‘Read’, ‘Completed’, ‘To Do’, and that’s where it ends – you’re going to want to take another crack at this. What you want to do is break down the correspondence into categories based on volume. You don’t need to have a new folder for each singular email, but if you get a lot of correspondence surrounding a specific subject matter that is a great place to start. From those main folders that you create, don’t be afraid to break it down even further with a couple of subfolders; for example, FINANCIALS > EXPENSES; FINANCIALS > INVOICES, and so on. Ultimately this is going to depend on the volume of correspondence you receive, and not every folder will have subfolders – that is absolutely okay! There is such a thing as being too organized! Once those folders are in place, you can set aside time each week to chip away at filing your emails away. Putting the time in now to get your emails organized will save you hours upon hours in the long run; knowing exactly where an email is at any given time and being able to pull accurate and current information at a moment’s notice!
Time-Blocking Your Calendar
Time-blocking is everything! I generally recommend blocking time in your calendar to review and respond to emails three times each day – first thing in the morning, midday, and about 45minutes to an hour before you end your workday. The goal is to not get stuck spending your entire day on emails. By beginning your day with dedicated time in your inbox, this allows you to review and respond to anything time-sensitive that came in from the previous day, and will alert you to any urgent tasks that will ultimately set the tone for your upcoming day. By reviewing your emails before you take lunch, you are more likely to head into that time less stressed about what is sitting at your computer when you return and will help you to mentally distance yourself from work while enjoying a few minutes of quiet (hopefully). It will also help to clear up responses that came in through the morning hours and give you a fresh start for your afternoon. And I recommend that last time-block to be before your day ends to allow you to complete correspondence without having to carry it over to the next day. This will also give you a chance to finish up any tasks that require your attention before the end of your day, instead of working to play catchup on emails that may not actually be priorities. I really want to emphasize here that the first priority in these time-blocks is to REVIEW the emails. Just because there is an email in your inbox, does not mean it requires your immediate response. Time-blocking is great in theory, but is even better when put into practice. By physically entering these blocks into your calendar, you are more likely to hold yourself accountable to it and it also makes it a lot easier for others to adhere to that boundary that you are setting in your work day. Take the time to look through your calendar and determine what works best in YOUR schedule.
Create a Running Tasklist
Creating a daily and/or weekly tasklist will help you to prioritize your time and ensure that you are being as efficient as possible. The format you use when creating your tasklist is completely dependent on what works best for you personally. This could be a To Do List in Outlook that you can pin emails to, it could be a separate Word or One Note document, or it could be handwritten in a physical notebook that sits on your desk. All that matters, is that you have one! If you were to stop right in the middle of your email review time-block and begin the corresponding task, then that time-block is no longer serving its purpose. But, on the other hand, you also don’t want to forget about a task that needs your attention while you are finishing the one that you are in the middle of. This is where the tasklist comes in. As you are reviewing your emails, make notes – in priority sequence – of additional actions that need to be taken apart from just responding to that specific email. Within your tasklist, be sure to include key points for each item, such as date of correspondence, due date, individuals involved, and reference terms for scope of work to be completed. As you work through your tasklist each day, make additional notes in either a bolded font or different colour ink to show that work has progressed or been completed and be sure to set any follow-ups within your email and calendar as needed. The goal is to maintain that efficiency that was gained by creating the email review time-blocks and you can really follow the same principles in using and adhering to the tasklist rule as well.
Use Your Tools
Personally, one of my favourite tools is the ‘delayed send’ / ‘scheduled send’ option. This is fantastic if, like me, you tend to work non-traditional business hours, but don’t want to create a habit with correspondents that you are actually available and reachable 24/7. it is a great way to make the most of your work day. This is also really helpful if you’re working on a task and know that the individual you need to respond to is generally online at a specific time of the day, draft your email, attach your documents, and schedule for when it will best reach them. The same applies for times when you are working ahead in your tasklist and have completed a project ahead of a due date. If you don’t want to submit too early and risk an item getting lost in someone else’s inbox, schedule the email for the due date and time. By using the scheduling tool you’re eliminating the risk of forgetting to send out an email from your drafts and you’re also making the best use of your time, by completing a task when it best suits your schedule without having to stop mid-way through a different task to go back and finish off that first one.
Keep On Keeping On
Maintaining these email management skills will prevent you from having to re-audit your inbox throughout the month (or year). These few extra minutes save you hours in the long run. My recommendation is to save and file as you go, as opposed to at the end of your day or week. After you’ve reviewed your emails, responded to the urgent correspondence and made notes for actions for be taken, file all completed correspondence – making sure to save any associated documents to their appropriate folders outside of your email account. By the end of the day the goal is to have minimal emails in your inbox. My personal goal is to end each work day with no more than 10 emails in my inbox. If there are emails in the inbox it should be because the correspondence has not been completed or they are sitting as a reminder to complete a task on the following day. These emails will always be flagged or categorized so I know at a glance what they are and why they are still there. If it can be filed away, it absolutely should be. Keeping a clear, de-cluttered inbox eliminates such a huge amount of stress and will give you an accurate depiction of what needs your attention and what is going on in your work-world.
I feel like I could go on for days about how vital this skill really is but I’ll wrap it up here! These 6 rules will make a huge difference in your work-week, not just in how much time it will save you but in how much stress it will eliminate as well! No question about it, you already work hard! Now it’s time to start working smarter!
