Something to think about
when you return from a few days break as we're coming up to that time of year. To avoid
spending the first week back dealing with all those emails, here are a
few tips to get through them quicker.
Set aside an hour to go through your inbox. It's probably going to take longer than that but it's a start.
First scan - DON'T READ OR RESPOND TO ANY EMAILS ON THIS SCAN. Just go through quickly and eliminate the spam and any 'junk' emails you know you don't need to read. Use the sort function to sort by sender or subject, which makes it quicker and easier to delete.
Delete anything that doesn't require your attention or information you MUST have. Don't save it 'just in case'.
Second scan - pick out all the priority emails you need to respond to first and place them in a separate 'Action' folder or flag them.
Set aside time to respond to your 'Action' emails - either do this if you still have time left, or set aside more time later in the day.
Depending on the volume of emails, you should be able to complete these two scans in the first hour and clear the more urgent emails.
Do the third scan too if you still have time, otherwise leave that until the next time you're scheduled to work on your email.
Third scan - if your filters haven't already sorted out reading emails, now is the time to place emails into the appropriate folder(s). This is about sorting not about actioning or responding.
Allow yourself a few minutes to take a quick look at any new emails - in case there is anything important that needs attention, but I mean a 'few minutes'. Don't get distracted!
Fourth scan - deal with what's left. Deal with emails that need a quick response, 2-3 minutes, as you go through them. Schedule time to deal with any emails that need a longer response.
What's left? If it's not action or reading - it's probably not urgent so can be deleted.
Once you've safely dealt with the backlog that came in while you were away - only then, can you deal with applying the same process to the new emails that have come in.
I use a number of accounts to sort my email before it even gets to the Inbox and folders.
- Non-essential newsletters and recent Internet account sign-ups, go to one email address.
- Postings from discussion groups go to another account.
- Work related emails and the newsletters I really want to read, go to my main account and then I use filters to sort these into folders.
Before you go away - switch any email groups to special notices or admin only. This will reduce the volume coming through in the first place so you have less to deal with.
Set aside an hour to go through your inbox. It's probably going to take longer than that but it's a start.
First scan - DON'T READ OR RESPOND TO ANY EMAILS ON THIS SCAN. Just go through quickly and eliminate the spam and any 'junk' emails you know you don't need to read. Use the sort function to sort by sender or subject, which makes it quicker and easier to delete.
Delete anything that doesn't require your attention or information you MUST have. Don't save it 'just in case'.
Second scan - pick out all the priority emails you need to respond to first and place them in a separate 'Action' folder or flag them.
Set aside time to respond to your 'Action' emails - either do this if you still have time left, or set aside more time later in the day.
Depending on the volume of emails, you should be able to complete these two scans in the first hour and clear the more urgent emails.
Do the third scan too if you still have time, otherwise leave that until the next time you're scheduled to work on your email.
Third scan - if your filters haven't already sorted out reading emails, now is the time to place emails into the appropriate folder(s). This is about sorting not about actioning or responding.
Allow yourself a few minutes to take a quick look at any new emails - in case there is anything important that needs attention, but I mean a 'few minutes'. Don't get distracted!
Fourth scan - deal with what's left. Deal with emails that need a quick response, 2-3 minutes, as you go through them. Schedule time to deal with any emails that need a longer response.
What's left? If it's not action or reading - it's probably not urgent so can be deleted.
Once you've safely dealt with the backlog that came in while you were away - only then, can you deal with applying the same process to the new emails that have come in.
I use a number of accounts to sort my email before it even gets to the Inbox and folders.
- Non-essential newsletters and recent Internet account sign-ups, go to one email address.
- Postings from discussion groups go to another account.
- Work related emails and the newsletters I really want to read, go to my main account and then I use filters to sort these into folders.
Before you go away - switch any email groups to special notices or admin only. This will reduce the volume coming through in the first place so you have less to deal with.
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