Hello SOTGC community,
Do you find yourself drowning in email? Do you leave a meeting and find that you have more email than you can check in one day? Are you answering emails during family time and not being fully present? Most of us are guilty of one or more of these issues. However, there is hope! Email can be tamed; it simply takes a little know-how.
1. Unsubscribe. This may be something you already do, but take it seriously. I cannot tell you how many JCrew sale emails I have deleted over the past few years. Once I decided to let it go and unsubscribe I finally started getting some work done and saved money in the process! So, let go of your spam. It will give you hours of your life back.
2. Outlook Email Rules. Did you know you can set rules in Outlook? For example, I am sent sales reports on a daily basis. Roughly seven to be exact, and they are sent at 6:00 every day. Instead of constantly deleting these messages, and letting them build before I have time to delete them, I set a rule in Outlook for these messages to be automatically sent to a different folder, rather than my inbox. You can also turn off the small blue notification box that pops up every time you get an email. This way, when you are working on a project you can focus and check your email at a set time.
3. Scan. Decide. Action. Let’s say it again: “Scan, decide, action!” Don’t let your emails pile up during the work day. Set a time during the day to check emails in the morning, before lunch, and in the afternoon. Quickly scan the message. Decide if it needs immediate action that will take less than one minute, if it needs to be flagged for when you are at your desk, or if you can delete it. Then, immediately take one of those three actions.
What tips and tricks do you use to keep from drowning in email? Continue the conversation with me on Twitter @ryangreenonline and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007156953049 .
