Email Overload
This week on the national evening news, NBC had a segment about email overload. One of the individuals that they interviewed had a solution. He had 10 different email addresses that he used for different types of information that he received. While this might help to keep unwanted email out of his primary email inbox, it does not solve the problem about how to handle all of the email that comes in on a daily basis.
Email overload is getting to be as big of a challenge as the paper pile overload that people face. There is simply too much information and most do not have a good system for processing, storing and retrieving information - whether electronic or paper.
Whether you struggle with email overload, paper piles or both - there are 5 decisions you need to make.
Let's use Email as an example. With each email that lands in your inbox, you need to decide:
1. Can I delete it? If after you've read the email and it serves no future purpose, delete it immediately. You've already made the decision you don't need it - why leave it in the inbox, only to have to look at it again to remember that you were going to delete it? This just wastes time.
2. Do I need to File It - If the information contained in the email is something you need to refer to in the future, but needs no immediate action on your behalf - file it. Storing this kind of information in the inbox - just takes up space. Think of your inbox as the place where only items that still require action remain.
You can also set rules using Microsoft Outlook to automatically file emails for you based on the sender, subject and a variety of other criteria.
3. Should I Schedule a Meeting? - If the email you've received requires an action on your behalf to schedule a meeting - schedule it on your calendar and delete the email. OK, I know what you're thinking - how can I delete the contents of the email - that I might need for my meeting? If you are using Microsoft Outlook - you can drag the email over to the Calendar in the Navigation Pane. A new appointment will open and the contents of your email will appear in the notes section of the appointment. This way - you retain the information needed, but can eliminate the email.
4. Does this require action? In other words, is it something that I need to add to my "to-do" list? If the answer is yes - drag it to your Task Pad in Outlook. Just like when you drag an email to schedule a meeting, you can drag an email to give you the details of your task. You can edit the information in the notes section of the Task - so as to only keep what is relevant to getting the task done. You can then set a start date, due date and reminder for the task - and eliminate one more piece of email from the inbox - until you are ready to work on that task.
5. Do I need to Forward this information to someone else? If so, forward it on and then decide if you need to delete it, file it, schedule it or do it.
While having 10 email accounts may seem like a great idea to separate out the different types of email - it can be very overwhelming to have to check each of those email boxes on a regular basis. At some point - something important is bound to get overlooked.
Some people I know use a separate email account when subscribing to newsletters, list serves, etc...where the information is purely information only and requires no action. For some, I know this is a great solution.
Whatever method you choose to use - there are really only 2 steps to managing a good email system:
1. Have a good process for dealing with the incoming email on a daily basis - just like you would deal with incoming paper on a daily basis.
2. Use your system daily to stay on top of the email.
You can't have one without the other. Any system you create - must be used on a regular basis and maintained.
Email overload is getting to be as big of a challenge as the paper pile overload that people face. There is simply too much information and most do not have a good system for processing, storing and retrieving information - whether electronic or paper.
Whether you struggle with email overload, paper piles or both - there are 5 decisions you need to make.
Let's use Email as an example. With each email that lands in your inbox, you need to decide:
1. Can I delete it? If after you've read the email and it serves no future purpose, delete it immediately. You've already made the decision you don't need it - why leave it in the inbox, only to have to look at it again to remember that you were going to delete it? This just wastes time.
2. Do I need to File It - If the information contained in the email is something you need to refer to in the future, but needs no immediate action on your behalf - file it. Storing this kind of information in the inbox - just takes up space. Think of your inbox as the place where only items that still require action remain.
You can also set rules using Microsoft Outlook to automatically file emails for you based on the sender, subject and a variety of other criteria.
3. Should I Schedule a Meeting? - If the email you've received requires an action on your behalf to schedule a meeting - schedule it on your calendar and delete the email. OK, I know what you're thinking - how can I delete the contents of the email - that I might need for my meeting? If you are using Microsoft Outlook - you can drag the email over to the Calendar in the Navigation Pane. A new appointment will open and the contents of your email will appear in the notes section of the appointment. This way - you retain the information needed, but can eliminate the email.
4. Does this require action? In other words, is it something that I need to add to my "to-do" list? If the answer is yes - drag it to your Task Pad in Outlook. Just like when you drag an email to schedule a meeting, you can drag an email to give you the details of your task. You can edit the information in the notes section of the Task - so as to only keep what is relevant to getting the task done. You can then set a start date, due date and reminder for the task - and eliminate one more piece of email from the inbox - until you are ready to work on that task.
5. Do I need to Forward this information to someone else? If so, forward it on and then decide if you need to delete it, file it, schedule it or do it.
While having 10 email accounts may seem like a great idea to separate out the different types of email - it can be very overwhelming to have to check each of those email boxes on a regular basis. At some point - something important is bound to get overlooked.
Some people I know use a separate email account when subscribing to newsletters, list serves, etc...where the information is purely information only and requires no action. For some, I know this is a great solution.
Whatever method you choose to use - there are really only 2 steps to managing a good email system:
1. Have a good process for dealing with the incoming email on a daily basis - just like you would deal with incoming paper on a daily basis.
2. Use your system daily to stay on top of the email.
You can't have one without the other. Any system you create - must be used on a regular basis and maintained.
