Feeling “Email” Overwhelm?

True confessions!! Having my email well organized has not been a strong suit for me. In fact, it has often been quite frustrating! At times even a nasty master.

However, I have been stepping in and making some much needed adjustments. Building new email habits is one small change helping me serve even better in the work God has called me to.

How about you? How frustrated are you with your email inbox? Time to end the email overwhelm. Try implementing these 8 tips. Master your inbox instead of it mastering you.

Unsubscribe.

Have you said “yes” to many offers from various companies, filling your inbox with low to no value emails. Be diligent to remove yourself from lists that are NOT ADDING VALUE!

Deal with it.

Productivity gurus like David Allen and Michael Hyatt have been quite helpful for me as I look to remain focused on things most important. Here are 4 steps you can use immediately to deal with your emails.

a. Do it. David Allen suggests that if that if will take less than 2 minutes to respond then “git er dun”. Reading an email, thinking about it and not doing anything is a waste of time.

b. Defer it. If it will take longer than 2 minutes than add it to your “to-do” list and deal will with it at the appropriate time.

c. Delegate it. Having members of your team trained to handle various requests is a serious multiplier of your time. Train them well and then hand it off to them to be brilliant on your behalf.

d. Delete it. If an email is not adding value then get rid of it.

Stop the frequent checking!

Are you catching yourself wondering if someone important has emailed you? Are you concerned that you have missed something? Your habitual compulsion to frequently check email (and texts) may be causing more damage than you think.

Turn off the notifications!

Rid yourself of the constant barrage of dings, beeps and screen flashes alerting you of a new message. This barrage does nothing to help you be productive in your work and relationships.

Set a schedule.

Check emails 2 or 3 times / day at set times. Unless you are one whose work is a matter of “life or death” then you most likely do not need to check email more frequently than a couple of times per day.

Train your team and your clients.

If you respond to emails immediately you are telling your clients and your team how you want them to work with you. For most responding within 24 hours is a reasonable response time. If items are more urgent there are other tools they can use to connect with you.

Enlist help!

Although not for all, having a member of your team monitor your email 2 or 3 times / day so that nothing of consequence is missed, can be a game changer.

Don’t use email for your team communications.

Our team is using a communications a tool called “Slack”. Slack helps ensure our team communication is not buried in the email pile. You may want to check it out.

Email is a tool and no more. And yet it has become a master to many. Let’s say “no” and choose to master it! Tolerating anything else is a choice to be “less-than–excellent” with the time that God as given you and me.