MANAGING YOUR EMAIL

Your email can be a source of delight or major stress depending on how many messages you get, whom they come from, and what the senders want from you. Not only do you have to read most email, but sometimes you even need to respond. You can easily feel overwhelmed. The following are some simple strategies to help you manage your inbox.

Check your email, but don’t overdo it

Most people fall into one of two groups: They either under-check or over-check their email. Checking your email too infrequently can get you into trouble. When people send you an email, they expect that you will respond in a reasonable time frame. That time frame is usually mere hours, not days. Delaying responses to personal emails can trigger the ire of family and friends. The damage of tardy responses in work-related situations can be more serious. But you can also go too far in the other direction. Constantly looking at your email can resemble an addiction, becoming somewhat compulsive. It can disrupt the flow of your day and become an unwelcome source of distraction.

Find some set times when it’s convenient for you to check your email. It could be in the morning with your coffee, before lunch, and toward the end of the day. This will ensure that your inbox doesn’t overflow and that you respond to important emails in a timely manner. A good time to check your email is after you’ve completed some other chore or piece of work. You’re ready for a break, and looking at your email gives you breathing space.

Be efficient

Reading your email can become a black hole that sucks up your time and attention. Minutes can turn into hours. Unless you have that free time or you just really enjoy the process of email correspondence, keep your time per email short and to the point. Remember that bit of sage advice: “Only handle your mail once.” The same principle holds for email. If you read it, answer it right away as briefly as is necessary.

                                      Have more than one email address

One effective way of organizing your email is to have a second email address. This will ensure that email regarding specific parts of your life can be separated. For example, we rent out our house upstate for several weeks a year. Any email regarding this rental is directed to a different email address. It works for us.

Copyright © Allen Elkin Phd – Originally appeared in Stress Management for Dummies 2nd edition