Are you constantly checking your inbox for new messages throughout the day? Are you tempted to go and read new email when you hear that alert go?

Emails can be a great time waster and provide a constant distraction throughout the day.

If you're going to make the most of your day then one way to increase your productivity is to limit the amount of time you spend on emails and use the time that you do more effectively.

Set your email system to check periodically or disconnect yourself from the internet except when you want to download emails.
- In Outlook Express - Tools > Options > General
- In Outlook - Tools > Options > Mail Delivery.

Switch off the email notification such as alerts and pop-ups so you don't get distracted throughout the day and change the Checking time to 120/180 minutes.

Only check your emails periodically through the day. Let's say first thing, late morning and again in the afternoon. Don't jump straight in and start responding. Take a few minutes to sort them into urgent/action, non-urgent and reading.

Set aside time in your schedule if you need to spend time responding to emails, to do that and limit the amount of time you spend. Either limit yourself to 30 minutes at a time or work to clear the existing action emails for as long as it takes (within reason!) without addressing any new emails. Leave those until next time

Subscribe only to mailing lists and newsletters that you will read/use on a regular basis. Go through every few months and clear out and unsubscribe from what you no longer read. Many sites, including mine, will archive past newsletters.

Use filters to organise incoming mail into different folders. These can be based on the sender or subject so that mail automatically gets diverted into a specific folder and doesn't clog up your inbox.

Use a different email address for different types of email? One specifically for business, one for personal, one for all your newsletters and one for less important things. Might sound complicated but it helps with the sorting process. You can set up your mail browser to pick up multiple accounts and then check the important ones regularly and the less important ones, less often.

Once an email has been actioned, delete it or if you need to, file it in an appropriate folder. Try to keep your Inbox as clear as possible so you can easily see what's new.

Today, we are constantly being overwhelmed by the amount of information we receive by email. There is just so much out there. One thing I found helped and stopped me from feeling I HAD to read every email that landed in my inbox, was trusting that the right information will appear at the right moment, when I need it and of course ... there's always Google.

 

 

Copyright 2006: Clare Evan. No content to be reproduced without written approval of the author.

Clare Evans is a Time Management Coach and the Author of 'Time Management for Dummies'.

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