Wow, the response continues to be overwhelming! I put out the question “what is your best time management tip, and to this point I have received over 500 tips! I am very appreciative to everyone who has responded. Read below about three great time management tips for using e-mail.
For all pasts time management posts, click here.
For more great time management tips from our readers tune into our blog next Wednesday!
1. How often do you get e-mails responding to things you didn’t need a response to? Here is a simple and nice tip from Mark Hawran who resides in
"When it comes to e-mails, I will put in the Subject heading "no response required" or "FYI only", so that I don't spend a lot of time going through e-mails that turn out to be irrelevant."
2. I call it the “Pavlov’s Dog e-mail syndrome.” Pavlov conducted an experiment where he would present a bowl of dog food to a dog, in which the dog would immediately begin to salivate. He would then pair it with the ringing of a bell. Eventually he would only ring the bell and the dog would continue to salivate. It is called classical conditioning. Well, we are classically conditioned when it comes to e-mail. Every time that e-mail bell rings or a notification comes up, we salivate and feel an urge to check our e-mail immediately. Here is a great comment and tip from Eve Luppert who resides in the
"Don't forget that email and voice mail are supposed to be tools. Too often they rule us. Pick a time to read emails (and turn it off the rest of the time) and same with phone messages. When I don't do this my attention span is about 35 seconds, and I can't focus on anything."
3. One of the best things I ever did several months ago was check e-mail a couple of times a day, as opposed to my usual 10 - 25 times a day. I’m serious folks; most of us check e-mail way too much. So this tip from Nina Roesner who resides in the
"I generally don't look at email but between noon and 1pm, and then again between 4-5pm...then I'm done. If I start email first thing in the morning (which is tremendously tempting) I am driven by other people's agendas and not my (or God's) plan for my day."
Mike Rogers
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When communicating via email, our practice at the Effective Edge is to 1) include a descriptive subject line (Action Requested/FYI/Read-Review), 2) consider purpose, actions, specifics, and supporting resources (PASS), so that the reader can scan the email in 8-10 seconds and know what to do with it, and 3) process email routinely vs. sit in your inbox, and use the 4D's = delete, do it, delegate, or defer so that there isn't a backlog, and things don't slip through the cracks! More stuff gets done in less time!
Posted by: Paige Webb | 10/12/2009 at 07:55 AM
Great tips Paige. I like it. Thanks!
Posted by: Mike Rogers | 10/12/2009 at 12:33 PM
I love the thoughts here, but I work in a company culture that requires instant responses to emails. If you do not respond within an hour, there are anxious/angry/apoplectic messages from the exec team. Often for things that are not urgent or that are just FYI. And even FYI requires an aknowledgement.
Suggestions???
Posted by: Ricky Dyson | 10/29/2009 at 02:52 AM
That is tough Ricky.
My recommendation would be that you use the autoresponder and let people know that you got their e-mail and that it is important to you, but due to the overwhelming amount of e-mail you get you only check it twice or three times a day. But promise you will get back to them within the day. If it is urgent ask them to give you a phone call instead.
Every culture shift begins with one person, maybe that could be you?
- Mike
Posted by: Mike Rogers | 10/29/2009 at 07:25 AM