As a manager your email inbox will always be full, which is why it is so important to manage it properly. Here we look at how to do this efficiently with some top tios from Ditto Digital.
Managing your work emails can be an extremely stressful activity. Not only does it take a lot of time, but it can be extremely unproductive and divert a large amount of focus away from the work you actually need to be doing.
Many management courses teach you how to be organised, but the approach you personally take to being organised is down to you, and you alone. In this article we’ll be looking at how to reduce the amount of time you spend in your inbox and how to make sure that you can focus on what needs to get done whilst still be able to use email effectively when absolutely necessary.
- Set aside time to deal with your emails
The best way to keep your email under control is to allocate certain time slots for checking your inbox and replying to any important emails. It’s best to do this noo more than 3 times a day.
If you want you can also create an automatic response to incoming emails informing the sender that you will respond in due course to prevent them thinking you are either ignoring their email or haven’t received it. Make sure your own team can communicate with you directly, in person, if they need to. - Deal With It Now
We all know the feeling, an email comes in that absolutely has to be dealt with now. First, remember that there are very few times when an immediate response is necessary – if it was an emergency then you would most likely be contacted in person or by phone. Nevertheless get into the habit of acting quickly with emails where possible so that they don’t mount up, say, reply within 48 hours where possible. - Get Organised
Making sure that your inbox is organised can be a massive help when wading through your email. Being able to filter through the emails that are potentially more important than others is key to being able to work efficiently.
Messages from clients or senior execs? If they’re important you can handle them as soon as possible. However, messages from someone about a trivial matter can be dealt with another time if necessary. - Stay Organised
The worst thing you can do if you want to be efficient is subscribe to lots of different newsletters. Whether they’re Monthly, weekly or daily unless you really need them to help you do your work then unsubscribe – right now. If you are interested in reading certain newsletters when you have time then set up a rule to automatically move them to another folder that you can check at your leisure.
It’s not difficult to manage your emails efficiently but you just have to train yourself, change your email habits and allow yourself to become more productive.
