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How distracted are you by email?
We've all done it - allowed ourselves to be distracted by email rather than getting busy with the task at hand. Email, while often productive and important, can steal time in the most creative ways. Try these techniques, and encourage your colleagues to do the same. Note: This article can be used as the topic of an office meeting - list it on the agenda as "Time Saving/Office Productivity."
1. Never send or forward "chain letter" email. You'll still have friends and good things will still happen to you. As soon as you can tell that the email is "one of those," hit delete.
2. Do not send "bounce-back" emails. These are also known as "ping-pong emails". They occur when someone sends you something and you thank the person for it. Then you get thanked for thanking, and the ping pong continues. You can help put a stop to this by using NNTR (No Need to Respond) or NRN (No Response Necessary) when you send along something that might start the bounce-back.
3. Use the subject line as the complete email. When it's possible to do this, then end the subject line with EOM which stands for "End of Message." For example, send an email like this: "9/7 Meeting Time Changed to 8:30 a.m." No one has to open this email. They read, take note on their calendar(s), and delete.
4. Learn to use email folders. Usually it's just a right click on your email inbox to create a folder (or ask your "help" program). As soon as you've processed an email and determined that you MUST save it, slide it into the appropriate email folder.
- For example, if you receive a list of materials needed for an upcoming workshop, place it into a 'Worskshop' folder.
- Depending on the type of position you have, you might have many email folders, but more than a screen-full is too many.
5. Process everything in your email in-box EVERY day. Take action, move items to folders for later actions, delegate the tasks, or delete. Remember that you can usually retrieve things from your "Deleted" items for at least a few weeks depending on your organization's policies, so don't be afraid to delete.
6. Limit the number times each day you handle email. Unless you are expecting a CRITICAL email, do not look in your in-box at other times (and turn off the sound chime).
7. Learn to use the "rules" that are available in your email program. If your boss sends you email, have it diverted to the "Employer" folder, and then look at this folder first when you begin processing your email. If there some people who should *not* be sending you emails, then either delete them or divert their emails to your "Junk" folder. You might look at it someday...or you might not.
8. Avoid personal email at work. You know you're not supposed to do it. You know that these emails sometimes go to the wrong people. You know this is bad.
9. Proofread, spell check, and make sure you're sending your email to the right person. Untold chaos and time thievery results from sending an unclear email to the wrong person. (Even worse - sending a very clear email to the wrong person.)
10. Know what needs to be emailed and what can be spoken directly. Keep a notepad handy to jot down something you need to tell a co-worker whom you already have a meeting with after school or anticipate seeing the next day. This can reduce the email overwhelm now present in the educational communication system.
Use the ideas in this article that will help address the email time thievery that occurs daily. Remember, share the article with others, too. That's best of all.
c) 2008 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., "The Ph.D. of Productivity"(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!
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