I Firmly Believe Emails Aren’t Going To Control My Day
I’m going to control my emails.
I only check my emails a few times a day in blocks of a half hour or so.
I have no pinging, beeping, ring-a-ding-dinging notifications on any of my devices.
And I have a system of how I deal with them when I am inbox wrangling.
Action them if they will be a quick knock-off.
Invites get added to a calendar.
Delete and or/unsubscribe if it's something not needed/wanted to know about.
If it's a simple phone call to clear something up that would take waaaay too many emails, make it or schedule it.
If I can ship off a video (I love Loom for this) that will be a more efficient way of answering an email (eliminate confusion and back&forthing) I will make one and share it.
I have made “Looming”such a part of my communication that some of my clients “Loom” Qs to or reply to my Qs.
If it’s a task to be completed or an email that needs a reply that will take more time than there is band/emotional width for - and it will be dealt with in a few days of its arrival - leave it in the inbox (an unpopular idea I know, but a few random tasks sitting there may be more functional than moving them somewhere).
If it’s a big task or I simply can’t deal with it in the short term - I snooze it, send it to a task manager (I use Google Tasks but there are a ton of apps - ClickUp/Notion/Keep or such will do) or drop it in a calendar.
My email is syncing with my project management app, so if a client needs work or task requests that are not part of my usual workflow (out of scope) I can have Financial Cents create a task project or pin the email for me.
If you get email notifications from a program you use regularly for task management or communication - can you turn them off?
When implementing a new program your first task should be to manage notification settings.
Perhaps leave email notifications on until you have established both faith in the app and a routine for it, and then kill them.
Control that program routine, check a few times a day rather than living in it.
If it’s duplicating notifications it is self-defeating to have a program you use to minimize emails if it … emails you…
Replies that are the same text over and over (and over…) again, use text snippets, create multiple signatures and/or template emails. You can create the text expanders on your phone too!
Embrace labels & filters, love-love-love.
Move group decisions out of email. Reply all is rarely necessary and always annoying... Whenever possible, change it up.
You are tempted to create a reply all?
Create a spreadsheet, a form or a poll that can be converted to useful data.
Someone else created a reply all?
Can you suggest the above ideas?
No? Wait until the majority of answers are in to reply (unless you have a compelling, early-in opinion). Delete all the replies except the top one.
CloudHQ can PDF entire folders you no longer need.
Get unnecessary “schtuff” out of email altogether; searching will be so much cleaner. But you may need backups of them for some reason someday, so this is a great way to clean things up and put them where they really belong.
My clients know that if it’s really urgent, they can call me. I am much less distracted auditorily than visually; I can generally go back to what I was doing with no trouble.
If I pick up, it means I can listen and possibly help.
If I don’t, they know I will get to emails in the morning, around noon and again around 4:00.
They know cause I have clearly told them this in my Client Guidebook.
To be clear, I don’t get hundreds of emails a day. I’m in the 75 - 100 range, which is easily managed by this system.
One last thing - if you don't have one, get an online scheduler (and create text snippets/expanders for the links…)
This will cause a whole pile of emails not to be necessary. No more back&forthing to set up meetings and events.
Huge game-changer for email and time sucks! Huge!
We all need to find a system that suits the way we think, organize, and visualize… but hopefully, this system will be useful to you or a start to creating your process.
Simply yours, Kellie :-}
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