Wednesday, September 7, 2011

It's truly amazing the productivity gains that can be achieved by making simple changes to the way you email!

Yes, you read that correctly. I'm talking about email. Making small, simple changes to how you email can dramatically affect how well you work. It may sound silly, but it's backed by facts. People are spending more and more time on email and most are not happy about it. Here's a sample of astonishing statistics:

• There are 294 billion emails sent everyday – Royal Pingdom

• Office workers receive about 110 emails per day – The Radicati Group

• About one-third of people would rather clean their toilet than their inbox - Yahoo

• Office employees spend about 25 percent of their day on emails – The Radicati Group

• Office workers check their inbox an average of 50 times per day – Deloitte

Pretty incredible, huh! Email overload can be very stressful. It can reduce your productivity and cause you to dread opening up your inbox in the morning. But there is hope! By following a few simple steps ANYONE can choose to reclaim their time, their productivity, and their life. Below are my top three tips to do so!

1) Get RID Of Distractions

Get rid of stupid distractions. Turn off the never-ending beeps and buzzes so you can focus. Shut down the entire inbox and open it a maximum of five specific times each day. In even the most demanding work offices, five inbox checks a day will allow you to open your inbox nearly every 90 minutes during an eight hour day. If someone needs something in sooner than 90 minutes, they should call.

2) Clarify Your Message

First, make sure your writing is as clear and as concise as possible. One way to do this is to put an expanded description of the topic of the email in the subject line. Put the main points of your email in the first sentences and avoid abbreviations. Reduce back and forth emails by using "If/Then" statements and list a number of different options for your reader to choose from.

Second, pick up the phone more! Email is not a good substitute for two-way conversation. It's a tool to share data. Before you click send, ask yourself if it will require more than two emails from you. If the answer is yes, pick up the phone and make the call.

3) Empty Your Inbox

The average worker gets about 110 emails a day. That means if you check your inbox five specific times a day you will have around 22 messages to "empty" each time. Emptying means that you delete each email or sort it into a folder where it can be easily retrieved later. Using this method you will be able to triage and streamline your email tasks, saving you time, money, and the sanity!

Fighting Back Against Email

Turning off distractions, taking control of messages, and emptying the inbox every time are all things that don't come easy at first, but the longer a person can stick with these practices the easier it becomes! In the end, there is no better feeling than finishing the work day calm, focused, and organized, and there is no better way to get that winning feeling than to develop a habit of email excellence.