Managing a Large Volume of Email
Tips to Increase the Efficiency When Processing Emails
Aug 25, 2008
Finding an email management system that works well with the volume of emails you are processing is important to effective time management.
Empty Your Inbox Daily
According to David Allen in Getting Things Done [Penguin (Non-Classics), 2002], keeping emails in an inbox instead of filing them into reference and actionable folders causes continual re-reading of subject lines and contents. This inefficiency can cause a feeling of overwhelm. Instead, according to Allen’s system, clear out an inbox daily by doing one of the following:
- Actimmediately on emails that take less than 2 minutes to process
- Fileemails that will take more than 2 minutes to process into an “Action” folder
- Deleteemails immediately if they do not contain reference information
- Forwardand reply to emails, copying yourself and filing the copy into a “Waiting For” folder if you need to follow-up on the actions of others or delegated work. Delete the original email as it will be copied in the copy sent to your inbox.
- Store emails with reference information in a sub folder
Using this system, your email inbox should remain empty and the emails that will require further attention are those in the action folder.
To help prioritize the actionable emails, you can label the emails by creating a marking system by changing subject line font colour to red for high priority, green for medium priority and blue for low priority. If your email program allows you to file emails into your planning calendar, emails can be attached to their due date or event date.
Synch Up Email Boxes
If you use a blackberry or other phone with internet access and you process emails on it, make sure you set it up to delete emails from your desk top email client or you’ll double your processing time.
Before a Vacation
Before leaving on a vacation, instruct your key contacts to mark emails that need to be dealt with on your first day back as high priority. In most email programs, this is accomplished by tagging the email with an exclamation mark. Alternatively, you can ask your senders to start the subject line with urgent.
Writing Effective Subject Lines and Openers
Ask your colleagues to write effective subject lines to help the processing of the emails. Subject line should include as much information as possible such as:
- Who is involved
- What the email is about
- When it takes place i.e. a date associated with the content
- Where the event will take place
The opening sentence should give you a clue as to:
- Why you’ve been sent the message (or cc’d on the message)
Some examples of good subject lines:
- Joan’s Retirement Party - Sep 29 – RSVP required
- URGENT Job Interview – Business Objects - 4 pm Wed Sep 24
- Waterfall Project – Need Revised Timeline for Ops Meeting Friday
Finding an email processing strategy that works for you can make a huge impact on your feeling of accomplishment on a daily basis. Experiment with this and other email management ideas to find a fit with your work style.
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