Did you know that around 30% of your weekly workload is dedicated to managing your inbox? That’s an absurd amount of time, and it needs to change. So, we’ve compiled ten tips that will drastically improve your email time management, leading to far more efficiency in your working week.
Avoid Archiving
On the face of it, archiving your emails seems like a good way to get rid of things you’re not interested in. The reality is that this is a crime against productivity. It’s like moving mail from your desk to a cabinet under your desk; you’re not really addressing the problem! From now on, you need to stop archiving.
Send Short Replies
Too much time is spent relaying a long reply just to seem keen and nice. Instead, send short responses. Just make sure you fully get your message across, and there’ll be no problems.
Stop Unsubscribing From Spam
It sounds counter-productive, but when you unsubscribe it basically sends messages to spammers that you exist and are real. So, more will come your way, meaning more time is spent unsubscribing. To counter this, some tools will automatically send spam emails to the trash for you.
Stop Marking Emails As Spam
Similarly, marking emails as spam can take up time and be unproductive. Again, you can sort things out with a tool that automatically sends spam into the trash folder without you having to worry about it.
Learn Keyboard Shortcuts
It will surprise you how much more efficient you can be by using keyboard shortcuts. Instead of spending valuable minutes searching for things to click on, you can press a key and complete the action instantly. So, learn all the main shortcuts for your email client.
Sort All Emails Into Three Types
Whenever you get an email, sort it into one of these three things; read it and delete it, answer with a short reply, star for later. This instantly allows you to sort through every message and decide what type of response it requires. The result is an empty inbox all the time!
Avoid Sending Attachments
Attaching a file or image to an email takes longer because it has to load up. Instead, send links to cloud storage like Microsoft OneDrive. The recipient can click it and see the file you’ve sent, and it remains updated as well – much easier and faster.
Schedule Time In Your Day To Check Emails
Don’t spend every minute checking your inbox as this is terrible. For more efficiency, schedule time in your day to check. Once every few hours will do, and you can focus on other things like improving the profitability of your business! A little bit of training may also be help – we regularly run Microsoft Outlook time management training courses.
Set Auto-Responses
This helps you stick to your email schedule without annoying anyone that sent an email. With an automated response, you send a message acknowledging that you’ve received their message and that you’ll respond in due course. It takes no time out of your day, and only seconds to set up.
Take A Time Management Course
If you really want to improve your email productivity, then take a time management course. At STL Training, we offer one-day workshops where you can learn all about email time management and how to use email clients as efficiently as possible – check out our time management email training London courses.
Gain control of your inbox with these email productivity hacks. Now, you’ll free up more time in your day to focus on what really matters; improving the profitability of your company and getting more work done!
