What is your inbox like? Do you find you are spending countless hours on irrelevant mail?
I find when it comes to emails at work they often come in faster than I can respond. When I think I am on top of my emails more flood in. I sometimes work late or on weekends trying to manage my inbox so that I can achieve my desired goals. A lot of the time when I review the emails I probably didn’t need to receive them.
We are taught to make the most significant impact or to get results we need to make BIG changes. However, it is the small changes over time that compound and makes a profound difference in our life. We don’t get muscles the first time we go to the gym, it is a consistent effort of ongoing maintenance.
This approach can be applied to your inbox to reduce email volume by removing unnecessary emails and setting processes in place which will make you more efficient so that you have more time to do what matters to you.
1. Stop Thank You Emails when Not Necessary
Do you need to respond with a thank you back when someone has sent you an email? Do you want to be receiving thank you emails back that you will delete?
At times yes you may need to respond with thank you for showing your appreciation whether it be a client, a new interaction or to show appreciation for a big project. However often we work and interact with the same people on an ongoing basis. Hence these thank-you emails are not necessary.
You may be thinking that it is rude and unappreciative not to write thank you back. To avoid this, set expectations upfront when next speaking to your colleagues. Let them know that you are grateful and appreciative of their timely responses but won’t be writing thank you back so you don’t spam their inbox. Then ask them to do the same to you. I have done this countless times and so far the response has only been positive.
Think of the compounding time you will save for all. To write and send the “Thank you” email may take 10 seconds and then another 10 seconds for the person to open and read the email (assuming it is a 1:1 relationship) and you send or receive 20 of these a day.
That is 7 minutes a day saving, if your organisation has 10 people that is 70 minutes a day, for 50 people that is 350 minutes saving (almost 60 hours) and for 100 people (almost 12 hours more than a work day). Think about that in a week or a month.
If you do need to write thank you back and you cannot be without writing it. Consider instead of replying to all just hit reply to the one person. This will at least minimise unnecessary emails to some. If they are anything like me they just hit DELETE.
2. When Replying All To Emails Remove Irrelevant Contacts
When replying all to an email check whether everyone needs to be included in the email response. Often people may have moved on or the emails are no longer relevant to them.
Remove them from the email trial, worried that they will get upset, send them a private message letting them know. From experience they will be grateful you were so thoughtful as this will save them time in archiving or deleting the email.
This approach is contagious as you do it others will most likely follow. Also as a leader, I encourage my team members to remove me from emails if they have the issue in hand and do not require me to be across it. I found that it is also a great way to build trust within the team.
3. Call To Resolve
Have you ever gone back and forth on emails longer than it would have taken to pick up the phone and make a phone call or wander over to their desk for a quick convo?
Stop the emails where possible and instead call the person or schedule a quick 10-minute catch-up.
This will provide a better customer and employee experience as sometimes messages can be misunderstood or misinterpreted.
4. Mark your calendar as Out Of Office
When you have leave planned (including public holidays) or an appointment mark your calendar as out of the office. This means when meetings are being scheduled and availability is checked it is communicated when you are away.
Having to reschedule meetings because of a decline due to pre-booked leave is frustrating and unproductive.
Not sure how to mark yourself as Out of Office in your Outlook calendar? Check out these simple instructions here How to Create an Outlook Calendar Out of Office Entry. For other calendars, you can search online or check out YouTube, which has many simple and easy-to-follow videos.
5. Unsubscribe
How many emails daily do you receive that you do not need to be receiving? Have you moved on from a role and are you still getting emails relating to your previous role? These could include reporting emails, advertising, newsletters and so forth that are no longer relevant to you.
If the option exists click unsubscribe or politely send a private email and ask yourself to be removed from the mailing list. The worst-case scenario is you realise the emails are relevant and ask to re-subscribe.
Having emails that you no longer require or are interested in is distracting and time-wasting. You may be asking how they distract and waste your time, as you just ignore these emails. When you go into your inbox you see the message which subconsciously triggers thoughts and reminders in your mind. Plus deleting or archiving is time-wasting or even if you leave it in your inbox it becomes unnecessary clutter.
The feedback I have heard is that these steps are all great however they will take time to set up. I don’t have time! Look at these steps as an investment of your time. What you are doing is investing in your future to help ease email and work overwhelm as you remove what is not relevant to you.
Please share in the comments below how you went with the tips or any other suggestions you have to reduce email traffic.
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