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Katie: This is Katie Laird with another Advantage Point, providing ungraded advice for turning your small business into a not so small business. In any size business, communication is key. And now thanks to the advent of laptops and blackberries, one of the quickest and easiest ways to communicate, even on the go is through email. So let’s dive into ways you can manage your email correspondence and survive the insanity that just might be you email in box.
First things first, if you’re not writing a descriptive and relevant subject line in your emails. You’re doing your email readers a great disservice. Be concise in your email body copy using number list and short sentences separated into smaller paragraphs to help keep your message crystal clear.
If your leaving the office everyday with over 30 emails in your inbox, chances are, your brain is still thinking about them. Help organize your workflow by moving actionable emails into task or project specific folders. And filing and deleting them as many as possible to give you a fresh start to the following workday. If a email requires only minimal work to follow up on, do these tasks as quickly as possible. Perhaps allotting 20 minutes a day to cherry pick or delegate. You inbox will empty quickly and you will feel like you really accomplishing a lot. Simple is good.
If you feel like your inbox is overwhelmed by newsletters, site updates, and other email lists you signed up for. It’s time to start hitting those unsubscribe buttons like it’s going out of style. A good rule of thumb is this, if you deleted a newsletter without reading it for over 3 weeks, they most likely go. However if you’re feeling a little newsletter separation anxiety, setup a rule in your email client that will automatically place incoming email from a particular sender into a folder you can check at your leisure.
Also be aware what kind of email traffic is coming into your work email address. Many businesses today realize the blur between personal and work life. So reading your personal email at the office may not be a issue, but it just might be a issue to your productivity. So consider redirecting some email subscriptions to a personal email address that you don’t check frequently at the office. This will keep you happily employed and hopefully minimize some stress.
And never forget that your blackberry does have a mute and off setting. Sometimes the best way to cope with email stress is to take a little break from it. Your offline world will thank you.
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