Eddie's 5 Tips to Manage Emails

In the current digitalised world, emails have become an everyday part of life. It has become common to check emails on the go, and it has almost become an expectation to have a reply in a matter of minutes; but what is the best way to manage a constant influx of emails?

I have listed a few of my favourite tips – let me know what do you think!

Before you begin to implement a new strategy to manage your emails, you should have a clear out! We are all guilty of saving emails ‘just in case’ or subscribing to mailing lists that we never look at.  Making sure you de-clutter, and delete all unnecessary emails so you can have a fresh start and really make the most of my top tips.

-          Create Separate Folders to Organise Your Inbox
This will de-clutter your main inbox, making it easier to manage the incoming mail, while making it simpler to find old emails that you may need to refer to in the future.

-          Dedicate Time to Your Inbox
Setting aside specific time each day to check your inbox will allow you to concentrate on other tasks without constantly being distracted by incoming mail. The amount of time you choose to spend on your emails will vary depending on your job role, some will need to check every hour, and others will only need to check once a day. If you’re unsure, I would recommend starting with three a day, once in the morning, then again in the early afternoon and then finally an hour or so before you go home. Once you have tried this for a few days you can begin to adjust.

-          Send Less Mail
This one seems stupidly obvious and you may think you already do this, but if you want to receive fewer emails into your inbox; make a conscious effort to send less. Think about the email you are about to send, is it really needed or could you pick up the phone/walk across the office and have that discussion.

-          Create Templates
Doing this won’t help to reduce the amount of emails you get, but it will mean you spend less time looking at them. If you notice a pattern in your responses or if you are consistently sending similar emails, consider creating templates so you can customise emails depending on who you are sending it to, rather than typing a whole new email every time.

-          One Touch Rule
Adopting the one touch rule means you only come in to contact, with any incoming emails, once (This rule works best for those who set aside specific time to deal with emails). Once the email has been opened you must then do something with it, either by replying, carrying out the action required or putting it on your to do list. This rule is a great one to adopt for anyone who finds them continuously read the same emails over and over again.

These were just a few of my favourite ways to manage emails. All of the suggestions can be implemented as soon as you have finished reading this article – so give it a go and let me know how you get on!

Eddie – The nation’s favourite energy Guru x