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When I sent my first e-mail in 1991, it felt like the biggest technological advancement for improving workplace efficiency since word processors and computers replaced typewriters. I worked as a part-time receptionist while pursuing my journalism degree and was thrilled with the efficiency and time savings that e-mail provided. It wasn’t too long before e-mail had replaced carbon copies, handwritten phone messages and the tedious type-print-distribute method we’d used for memos and other business communication. It was like Miracle-Gro for office productivity. E-mail has come a long way in the last 17 years, arguably becoming the backbone of corporate communication. As a freelance writer, I correspond with all of my editors and clients via e-mail—that’s how I receive projects and assignments and turn in articles, copy and documents. But over the years, this technological tool has grown wild and unruly, like an untended garden. While e-mail is still an essential part of my professional productivity, some days it feels more like an impediment to efficiency, like a tenacious weed choking out time that could be better spent on other tasks. As I read and weed my inbox, I wonder how many man-hours are lost in corporate America as we delete the unimportant, the irrelevant and the inane. So I decided to prune my e-mail. Just as when I pruned the plum tree in my backyard, I expect to see—and am already beginning to see—fruitful results. Here are some tricks that have brought my inbox back to a manageable and efficient size: Unsubscribe I have four e-mail accounts. Through the years, my e-mail addresses have found their way onto various lists and newsletters. By evaluating which ones help me do my job or save money and unsubscribing from the rest, I estimate I’ll cut my weekly e-mail by more than 20 messages.
Automate I set up folders and rules in Outlook to organize automatically my e-mail so I don’t have to sort through the several hundred messages I receive each week. My corporate e-mail account gets inundated with messages from several distribution lists that aren’t optional, but many of the messages don’t directly relate to my job. These and the newsletters I’ve opted to receive are all sorted into different folders so I can skim those messages when it’s convenient without them cluttering my inbox or sapping my day. Likewise, messages from key colleagues, clients and editors are also automatically sorted so I never miss an important e-mail tucked amongst the weedy ones. I can see at a glance how many messages need immediate attention and how many can wait. For the few messages that don’t get filtered, I can easily drag and drop them to the appropriate folders. For the sending side, my signature line (name, title and contact information) is automatic, and I use the same content for messages that get repeated regularly in the job process. Be efficient I admit it. I’ve sent unnecessary, inefficient or wordy e-mails when a phone call, a meeting or no communication at all would have been a better choice. But as I work to limit my messages to communication that makes sense for the medium, not only am I sending less clutter to the inboxes of my colleagues—I’m receiving that same courtesy more and more. Effective e-mail starts by asking yourself a few simple questions: Is this an issue that could be better handled by a quick phone call? Can it wait? Has the message string gotten so long that a meeting would iron out the details more efficiently? Have I proofread for mistakes and made sure any attachments are actually attached? Is the subject line a meaningful summary? Is it directed to the right person or people? Flag and filter To stay on top of my deliverables, I use Outlook’s colored follow-up flags: red for new assignments or urgent issues, blue for tasks without specific deadlines and green for informational or reference messages I expect to refer to later. Then, with a folder set to search for flagged messages, I can see them all at a glance. It’s like an automatic to-do list. Unclutter I keep messages to a minimum by deleting messages that are irrelevant and by using the automatic archive feature on all my folders.
Do I still get too much e-mail and check it too often? Yes, but rather than the invasive weed that had taken over my workday, it is now what it should be—a tool that makes my job more, rather than less, efficient. IBC
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