Focus on productivity: how to overcome email overload

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by email? Have you ever spent more time checking your email than managing your work? Are you looking for ways to spend less time creating, managing, and replying to messages? Find out how to overcome email overload and be more productive by writing more effective email messages and reducing email volume.

Write effective emails

Start improving the effectiveness of your email by creating and formatting easy-to-follow content and using pre-written responses.

Create clear content

Consider these strategies to update your communications with understandable email messages:

• Help others prioritize how to act on your email by including a clear and specific subject line and repeating important subject information in the body of the message.
• Define your expectations in the body of the message. Do you want your recipients to act, reply, read or is the email just for your information?
• Include only one topic per message. If that is not possible, please describe and list multiple topics as 5 items to add to the Wednesday meeting agenda.
• When you write the addresses in your message, check who is receiving your email. Many programs try to auto-fill an email address that may not be your recipient.
• Be careful with your tone and language. As with any other communication, match the message with your audience. Unless the reader understands your dry sense of humor, for example, they may feel confused or offended instead of amused.
• It can be tempting to use acronyms in the world of Blackberry and IM (instant messaging), but only use extremely common abbreviations, like FYI or ASAP, unless you’re absolutely sure the person receiving your email knows what they mean. .
• Clearly identify yourself to strangers within your message and in your message signature.

Format email messages readable

Simplify the emails you send with a clean, easy-to-read format:

• Get to the point. Shorten paragraphs to no more than five or six lines to reduce reading.
• Limit the text of the email to a single printed page. If you have more text, please reduce the message or consider attaching a Word document. Delete old answers that are no longer relevant to the current exchange.
• Use fonts that are 10 to 12 point in size, except for headings, and choose a font style that is easy to read. Apply colors sparingly.
• Add blank lines and white space to separate paragraphs and areas of detail.
• Please run the spell checker and reread the messages one last time for clarity and grammar before clicking Submit.

Use prewritten responses

If you send some basic messages over and over again, such as a response to a request for product information, consider saving those responses as signatures that can be inserted into the email so you don’t have to retype them. For most messages, create a default signature that includes your full name, position or title, phone number, website, and other contact information.

Reduce email volume

Some of the best ways to reduce the amount of email you receive is to manage the number of messages you send, reduce unnecessary follow-up responses, and determine when person-to-person communication is a better option.

Reduce the number of messages you send

Before you write your next email, try to actively reduce the amount of email you send:

• Read all replies on a topic before replying to the original message. Resist getting involved with email threads that don’t impact your goals.
• Don’t send, and discourage your staff from sending, “intervention” messages that are simply unimportant responses like “Thank you” and “You’re welcome.” Do not reply to spam.
• Avoid Reply All unless all recipients need to see your reply. Otherwise, you are contributing to their email junk.
• Use the CC (carbon copy) line only when the topic impacts the recipient’s work. While it may seem easier to send a message to everyone in a department or your organization, first ask yourself, “Who needs to know? Why?” Most people who get a carbon copy assume that there is something they are supposed to do.
• Use Bcc (Blind Carbon Copy) to hide large distribution lists or to disguise selected recipient names. All recipients can reply to a message, but no one on the Bcc list will receive replies, which reduces the amount of email they receive.

Eliminate the clutter in your email

In addition to starting fewer emails, look for other ways to reduce the messages in your inbox:

• Post frequently requested information on your business website and ensure that the website is updated promptly when changes occur.
• When sending informational messages that do not require comments, avoid unnecessary responses by using formal language and begin and end messages with No Response Required or Just FYI.
• Unsubscribe from email newsletters you don’t read and move others from your inbox to folders to read during travel or other downtime. Don’t unsubscribe from emails you never started or you may open the spam stream even further.
• If it’s an available option, set up an out-of-office message that replies to incoming messages when you’re not available to answer your email. Clearly indicate your response time, when you will return, and who can be contacted while you are away.

Choose voice over email

Many times, phone or face-to-face conversations are a better option than email. Pick up the phone or schedule a meeting when:

• Creating a relationship is essential.
• The theme is emotionally charged.
• There are many interlocking problems to solve or long interactive discussions are needed.

Implementing these strategies to overcome email overload can help you be more productive and free you from your inbox.