Too Much Email at Work? Top Tips To Reduce Email Overwhelm
Too much email at work and in your business? Struggling with a DAILY avalanche of emails in your inbox ?
It’s overwhelming, I get it…but you have to deal with all these important communications. Unfortunately, you can’t just select and delete them all.
Since email is essential to any business or organization, you have to develop some strategies for handling it in an organized manner and eliminating the feeling of overwhelm so that you can avoid work burnout!
FREE Online Training For Busy Women: 3 Keys to Conquering Overwhelm
Too Much Email Tip#1: Schedule Time Blocks
Schedule blocks of time for email just like any other task, and only handle related issues at those times. You might choose to schedule several blocks per day, such as early morning, late morning, after lunch, and end-of-the-day.
Decide based on your schedule and when you receive important emails. When you check your emails, don’t go through them chronologically. Since you have limited time, you need to look at the most important ones first.
Too Much Email Tip#2: Set up Filtering
Use the filtering features your email service provides. You can filter out mass emails, organizational messages, sales, and messages where you’re only cc’d. Then, you can go back and look at your mass email folder when you have time after you’ve gone through important direct messages.
You can also create a separate account for newsletters or organizations and separate them completely.
Too Much Email Tip#3: Don’t Be Afraid to Delete
Don’t be afraid to delete things that are unimportant, like announcements and newsletters. Ask yourself, “Do I ever need to see this again?” If the answer is no, get rid of it. This will help to de-clutter and save you storage space.
Too Much Email Tip#4: Prioritize Replies
You have a great deal of replies to make but they’re not all equally important. First, don’t reply to mass messages where you’re just cc’d. If someone has sent you multiple messages, send one “thank you” reply, not one for each.
One idea is to create a “To Reply” folder and put emails in there to deal with later. That way, you can read everything first and know what’s going on, and then start replying. You can also prioritize or tag within this folder in order of importance.
Too Much Email Tip#5: Use Features for Urgency Level
Create a system of urgency levels in your inbox. You can do this through tagging, folders, or starring. One method is to star anything important and then set aside a time later to go back and deal with the starred items. Another idea is “mark as unread” anything you need to deal with urgently.
Too Much Email Tip#6: Tools and Features
Make use of any tools and features your email service offers. There might be things like templates and automatic replies that can help you trim some time here and there.
Too Much Email Tip#7: Pick up the Phone
There are times when it’s better to call someone than send an email. Some issues can be resolved more quickly by having a direct conversation. When there’s some back-and-forth, pick up the phone and you can cut down on inbox traffic.
Too Much Email Tip#8: Email Tools and Features
Use whatever tools and features your platform provides, but don’t get overly complicated. Remember that the whole purpose is to make checking and dealing with communications smoother, simpler, and more efficient. Use a few simple tools that help you cut down on time.
Continue learning about how to make the best use of your time, handle stress and become more productive! CLICK HERE NOW to learn 3 Keys To Conquer Overwhelm!
