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In 2005 the average US worker received 56 emails a day with a predicted  increase of 84% per year.  That means daily emails of 103 in 2006, 190 in 2007, and 349 in 2008.  From what I see and hear, those were pretty accurate predictions.  

Email is a convenient way to communicate, but if we don’t find ways to manage the steady stream of emails communications, we will be overwhelmed and work longer hours than we need to while trying to keep up with the volume.    

Below are my five favorite email management techniques that can help you  be more productive and reclaim some of your time.
 
1.  Don’t read email the first thing in the morning.  It’s not uncommon for people to get distracted and spend an hour or two reading/responding to email while completely ignoring more important tasks.

2.  Schedule one or two times a day to read/respond to email.  Batching tasks together reduces the transition time it takes when you move from task to task.  You’ll also be in the “email flow” and likely find it much faster to read/respond.  You can create new expectations for responsiveness by setting up an autoresponder that lets others know when you’ll be reading/responding to email. 

3.  Use your lowest energy cycle of the day to handle email and other administrative tasks.  First create some awareness around your high, medium, and low energy cycles of the day, and then use them to your advantage.   
 
4.  If you have an assistant, let that person screen and respond to certain emails.  This will free up your time to handle more important tasks.

5.  Delete, without reading, 98% of the email jokes & stories that you receive.  What about the other 2%?  Hey, a laugh now and then is good for you!

It takes approximately 30 days to create a new habit, so just stay with it as you create a more efficient way of handling email.

Until next time…
Nancy