How You Can Solve Email Overload,
And Help Others To Do It Too…..
Most people find email is totally overwhelming when you don’t have systems and processes in place to deal with the vast amount we all receive each day.
Have you ever thought about how you can massively speed up the email handling process for yourself and others? There’s actually some really simple things you can do which will reduce email time for you and those who receive, and need to action your emails. We’ll get into that in just a minute…
Do you remember when you first setup your new email address? Waiting for emails to come in……sending emails out to people and notifying them of your new email address……waiting for emails to come in…….checking a couple of times a day to see if any emails have come in ?
Those Were the Good Times
Then you subscribed to someone’s email list to receive some useful information. Your suppliers and/or customers started communicating with you and the email system was really helpful.
You saw some ads on Facebook for some more great information and gave out your email address to receive it for free.
And you may have thought “this email stuff is excellent! It provides really useful information and a quick way to communicate”…….. You didn’t even need to take notes. Brilliant!!
Then It Happened……
You don’t exactly know when it happened but at some point it just DID. And now…..
- You have more emails than you can deal with.
- You find many of the emails you do get are no longer relevant.
- You worry the emails you’re not reading may actually need your attention.
- You work way too long on emails, and other really significant stuff just does NOT get done…..and you wonder if it ever will.
Be A Part of the Solution……
You can now slash email handling time for those people who receive your emails regularly. And in doing so, you’re actually teaching them how to save YOUR email handling time in return. All it takes is One Simple Change……
And it’s this: Changing your subject line ! It’s that easy. Here’s how….
Most emails fall into 3 categories:-
- emails telling you something
- emails asking you something
- emails requiring you to do something
So all you need to do is add two words to the start of your subject line which will help the recipients understand super quickly what the requirements are. Choose one of the following for each email:-
1/ “Info Only:” This will let your recipient know there’s really nothing immediate to be done. They simply have to read the email. They may not need to do this straight away, so they can quickly skip over this email until they have time to deal with it. Perhaps over their morning coffee break or later in the day.
2/ “Info Required:” This lets your recipient know the email needs a response. It is a really quick process for them to read it and respond to it. To make it even easier for them (and you), start the body of the email with a direct question, and outline the timelines for when the response is required. After that, you can add in the background details, explaining why you need it and what the information is for.
3/ “Action Required:” This quite clearly indicates your recipient needs to DO something. They will most likely need to set aside a block of time to complete the action and respond. Start your email with a very clear indication of what the action required is, as well as the timeline for completion. You can then include extra information and any documentation required for them to complete the required action.
And Don’t Be Afraid !!
As you become more accomplished at this process it will become second nature, and it will also set a “precedent”.
Don’t be afraid to ask the people who send you emails to do it the same way. It will save time for both of you. It’s a Win-Win !
Even forward this post on to them and we can all become more “Super Productive”.
As Always I welcome your comments to this post.
