Tame Your Inbox! Research shows email can ruin your life... sorta. PDF Print E-mail

Ok, I am exaggerating a little... but in all seriousness, email has become a major issue for individuals and businesses.  A new report released by the AP is about Basex Inc. which did research on how much time and money email costs us.  They estimate that the disruptive cost of email (and other interruptions like voicemail) to the U.S. economy was $650 billion in 2006. (Click Here To Read Press Release)

“Workers get disoriented every time they stop what they are doing to reply to an e-mail or answer a follow-up phone call because they didn't reply within minutes," Spira said. "Workers can spend 10 to 20 times the length of the original interruption trying to get back on track.“


Managing the onslaught of information is probably the greatest discipline any modern professional can have.  Keeping your inbox from cluttering up and running your life takes a combination of organization and self-control.  Here are some tips to help you take back control of your Inbox!

 

  1. Eliminate frivolous and petty email messaging.
    Email should not be used to carry on conversations.  Make sure you have an IM client (i.e. AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, etc.)  and use that to send quick “back and forths” with people.  Email should be used for sending information that needs to “filed” and kept.  Also, set the expectation with your frequent email recipients not to send “thank-you” or “ok” emails.
  2. Setup a good folder structure and rules.
    Almost all email programs (like Outlook and Firefox) let you create folders and sub-folders to store your email and create rules that automatically process incoming email.  Make sure you have a good structure in place, and then setup rules to automatically direct email to their relevant folders.  That way you aren’t having to make those decisions.  If you don’t know how do setup rules, find your local geek and ask them.
  3. Setup multiple email clients to handle different kinds of email.
    I use two different programs for my email.  I have Apple’s Mail for all my business mail, but then I also use Google’s Gmail.  I make sure all my personal and petty (coupons and subscriptions) go to Gmail, and only important email goes to Mail.  This way, I can ignore Gmail completely until I have time to look at it, and Mail only notifies me of important email.
  4. Discipline yourself and schedule “email time”.
    Don’t look at your Inbox every time you are notified of email.  Finish what you are working on, and then when you need a break or are between tasks, check your Inbox.  If you have people who expect immediate replies, explain your new habit and they should respect your newfound productivity.