We often walk a fine line between mastering technology, and being mastered by it. Email is a helpful servant, but a terrible master. We can't live without it, but often it feels like we can't live with it, either. The emails just keep flooding in, and it can be hard to stem the tide.
I'll put my hand up and say that managing email is a constant struggle for me. Sometimes I'm right on top of it, but other times, including as I write this, my email is on top of me. I'd be embarrassed to confess how many emails remain unanswered in my inboxes! But there is lots of advice about how to harness this beast, so here are just 10 tips for managing your (and my) email. I pray that God would help us to use email wisely and effectively as we strive to serve Him.
1. Check email sparingly
Regularly checking email is a massive time and productivity killer. For example, each time you stop what you're doing to check your email, it takes 10 minutes to regain concentration to the level you were at before. Yet it is so easy to be constantly checking our email, as often as every couple of minutes. So shut down your email. Turn off email notifications, and just check your email two or three times per day. You will be less distracted and more efficient if you schedule in specific times in your day to deal with email.
2. Deal with it
I often find myself opening an email, not knowing what to do with it, and so moving on to the next email. I keep returning to the difficult-to-answer email, and continue to procrastinate and not deal with it. Returning to the same email over and over again is a huge waste of time. Instead, if you can't deal with an email in a couple of minutes, put it in a folder to return to later in the day. Then, in one of your periods set aside for responding to emails, open that folder, and one by one, deal with those difficult emails.
3. Downsize your folders
In the past, we needed a good system of folders in order to archive emails in order to find them again later. Today, most email programs have great search facilities so that simply by typing in a couple of key words you can quickly find the email you are looking for. Less folders has a number of benefits - it is visually less overwhelming, and it saves you time in thinking about where to archive email (no more "which folder do I put this in?") I use just a few folders, namely "Done - need to keep", and a folder where I archive any encouragements I've received via email (it's good to have them close at hand!!).
4. Use rules for routine mail
Over time, it's easy to accumulate a collection of email newsletters for various groups or topics we are interested in, or websites that we subscribe too. Rarely is the content of these emails urgent - they can easily be left to a time (perhaps once a week) when you can skim through them for any content that might be of interest. All email programs have 'rules' that you can create to automatically place these newsletters into a folder - skipping your inbox. While you're at it, now might be a good time to review the newsletters you receive, and unsubscribe from any lists that aren't holding your attention.
5. Keep it short and sweet
When replying to an email, it's ok to keep your response short. Often a quick - "Thanks - will do", is sufficient. Each email you send doesn't need to be prefaced by "Thank you for your email. It's wonderful to hear from you and it's my pleasure to respond." Obviously we don't want to be rude, but there's no point in over-responding either.
6. Automate the repetitive
Do you find yourself typing out the same phrases over and over again? You might like to make use of software that automatically types words of phrases you commonly use. For example, you could set up a rule so that whenever you type the characters 'krs', the words "Kind regards, Steve Kryger" would automatically be inserted into your email (you should probably use a different conclusion to your emails!). You can create rules to insert whatever phrases you like, using whatever trigger you like. Check out TextExpander (if you use a Mac) or FasterFox (if you use a PC).
7. Auto-respond to readjust expectations
Some people have unrealistic expectations for how quickly you should respond to their emails. They'll send a follow-up email or start calling if you haven't responded within a couple of hours, and this only adds to your stress! So create an auto-response (you can set this up from your email program or email server), explaining when they can expect a reply. For example "Thanks for your email. I check email twice per day, and aim to respond to all emails within three days. If your message is urgent, please give me a call."
8. Just one
All of the productivity experts repeat this advice - only do one thing at a time. So, when you're replying to email - close down every other program and just deal with your email. When you're preparing a sermon - shut out all other distractions and tasks, and prepare your sermon. Multi-tasking is a productivity killer.
Plenty more to learn
There are many great resources by those more qualified than me, on how to manage your email - here's just four to get you started:
1. 43 Folders - Inbox Zero
2. Tim Ferriss - 10 steps to become an email ninja
3. What's Best Next - How to get your email inbox to zero every day
4. Michael Hyatt - Yes, you can stay on top of email
How do you keep on top of your email? I'd love to hear strategies you use to avoid being mastered by your inbox.
