Email can be both a blessing and a curse. Let’s aim for the former by learning from those who do it best:
“I have a two-minute rule that says: If you determine an action can be done in two minutes, you actually should do it right then because it’ll take longer to organize it and review it than it would be to actually finish it the first time you notice it,”
“Don’t worry about being impolite by not replying; delete emails that were intended as FYIs and CYAs. I used to respond to everything, which created an endless series of ‘Thanks, got it!’ and ‘You’re welcome’ emails,”
-Jeremy Gregg, @CalamityGym
“Never read into the tone of an email. Too many times the tone of an email is perceived all wrong. If there is ever a question regarding tone or message politely ask the person to connect over the phone or in-person sometime soon to get on the same page or discuss further. Keep things pleasant! Often times you will find the other person had no intention of being hostile,”
-Danielle Estrada, @HomeHero
“What I always do during the day is only check emails once every 3 hours. It cannot be an emergency if they email you, and reading all emails coming in, when they come in, will kill your productivity,”
-Valentin Vesa, @adspedia
“I think one of the things that is common in our industry is the auto-responder that says something like, “Thanks for your information. I have checked and will reply to your email today between two and five.” This type of disconnectedness in a digital first world is not a good thing from the consumer’s perspective; they want a call back the same day, they want an email back the same day,”
-Chris Smith, @Chris_smth
“Tried, tested, and true efficiency maximization: turn off all email notifications on your phone and schedule two times a day when you spend an hour or two killing your inbox. Stop distracting yourself arbitrarily from work and get more similar work done in a concentrated, focused time frame,”
-Shaharris, @HackerNest
“My key to email sanity is to make sure my inbox is cleared out at the end of every night. I use SaneBox’s forward to a specific time and date feature to push non-urgent emails out of my inbox and have them circle back around at a more appropriate time. Email folders and labels are also a must in terms of organization and efficiency,”
-Jillian Koenemanm, @jillianmk
“I schedule all important emails and introductions to arrive at 9AM local time for the recipient. Many people begin their days by checking email. I use this technique to be at the top of their inbox. Scheduling plugins allow me to compose the messages in advance, when it’s convenient for me. Since I began using this technique, my response rate has been through the roof,”
-Trevor Ewen, @pearoftheweek
“Always check images. Keep images in emails to a minimum since some email clients don’t automatically render them (Gmail), but make sure you double check links for each image so they are not copied over from the last send,”
-Charlie Riley, @charlieriley
“It turns out that the most productive thing we can do is to stop working on someone else’s task list and figure out a more useful contribution instead. This is what separates great organizations from good ones, and extraordinary careers from frustrated ones,”
-Seth Godin, @ThisIsSethsBlog
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