19 Aug Getting Crushed By Your E-Mails?

If you can relate to any of the following, you are far from alone. “OMG, where did all these e-mails come from?”

“I keep clearing them out, and poof, they come back in droves!”

“I swear, I get so many e-mails, I barely have time to do my work!”

“I’m scared to take vacation because I know I’m going to come back to a bazillion e-mails!”

If you are anything like the rest of us, you probably spend a sizable chunk of your day beating back your inbox.  As the deluge streams in throughout your day, it can feel hopeless and like your inbox is more like a trick candle, that reignites right after you blow out the flame! To help you out, we asked a few amazing leaders in their fields how they successfully beat back their inboxes and here’s what they had to say:

Unsubscribe

“Unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe.  When I see a new newsletter or e-mail blast come in, I IMMEDIATELY unsubscribe unless I find the content to be really compelling.  That cuts out the noise from my inbox.”  – Val Swisher, CEO of Content Rules 

Spam, Spam & More Spam

” My first line of defense is a good spam filter that I’m pretty diligent about updating with email addresses of people who I don’t want to hear from (i.e., mostly people selling things or PR people promoting things that are inappropriate for my work).  – Aaron Zitner, Editor, US Politics, Wall Street Journal

Scan & Prioritize

“I scan all new emails and delete junk right  away.  Then I look at the newest email in a ‘stream’ first.  Sometimes the question is answered or issue resolved by another before you even read the original emails.  I also use folders to store emails that may be needed for reference later, either by topic, sender or both.” – Becky Pereira, Health & Safety Coordinator at Adobe

Auto Archive

“Auto archiving is key!,  Auto-archiving means that you can assign a sender or subject to a folder and have it redirect away from your inbox and directly into that folder.  Some helpful tips: (1) Unread e-mails get priority, (2) color code your inbox & (3) mark your emails as unread or task them.”  – Peggie Lee, Global Administration Manager, Uber Technologies

Lead By Example, Send Less E-mails

“I have a very simple principal which works:  when I initiate fewer emails, I receive far fewer emails.  I ask myself “is this really necessary?”  In most cases, a lot of what we send is NOT necessary.  I also might put an email into my “drafts” folder and accumulate a few items to one person all in one email, numbering the items to which I am referring. So instead of 3 or 4 emails to one person, I cut it down to one.” – Phil Miller, President of DCM

And here are a few more tips to add to your e-mail blasting efforts!

• Turn off your e-mail alert function.  Nothing will take you off your game faster than an e-mail alert that gets you to stop what you are doing, read and answer your e-mail.
• Designate specific times to write and respond to e-mails.  Answer time sensitive e-mails first.
• Delete read e-mails from your inbox!  Get rid of the clutter.
• if you don’t want work e-mails on the weekends, don’t write them (or at least don’t send them) and don’t respond.  Most things can wait until Monday.
• Avoid small talk and banter on e-mail.  Use text or IM for that.

So, what do you do to tame your inbox?  Take a moment to share your greatest tips and tricks in the comments below! After all, we are calling all experts!

Until the Next Time!

Vivienne & Andrew