Is Your Email Dragging You Down?
This weekend a close friend and I were training for an upcoming triathlon when my friend's phone rang. He talked for a moment then started laughing and said "welcome to the 21st century!" When he got off the phone he told me that he was talking to his dad who had finally just bought a cell phone.
I was shocked. I thought everyone had cell phones now. I mean we are in the age of immediate access we can communicate or electronically stimulate our senses with thousands of different types of devices: cell phones, smart phones, PDA's, WiFi, portable computers, televisions and the list goes on and on. We really have come a long way from the first computer which was developed in 1943 to help decipher messages from the Germans during World War II. That computer, aptly named colossus, weighed almost a ton and took up an entire room!
The advent of all of these electronic wonders has brought untold prosperity and blessings into our lives, nevertheless there are some downfalls. My CEO recently shared with our staff some ideas to help you control your email or should I say not let your email control you.
Many of our staff, me included, will get so distracted by emails that we are much less effective then we could be during the day. The following lists are some simple ideas that can help you control your email and not let it "Drag you Down."
1) Turn off visual and sound alerts that announce new mail- The problem is you are in the middle of solving the world's problems and an email "pings" into your inbox, we all drop everything we are doing to answer the email and immediately become less productive.
2) Check your email at 2-4 designated times during the day, and never longer than 45 minutes at a time.
3) Don't let email be your default communication device- Anybody see the movie Surrogate with Bruce Willis? Need I say anything more? Take the time to build relationships with your co-workers, a phone call or face to face is much more effective and quicker.
4) Respond in appropriate times- just because an email is received does not mean you have to reply immediately. Keep your priorities straight.
5) Reply to all should be a last resort- Minimize the reply to all usage. There has been more than one problem created because people hit reply to all.
6) Put "No reply necessary" in the subject line- If you are just keeping someone in the loop it is hard for them to know they do not need to take some action. Nobody knows when an e-conversation is over without explicit signals.
7) Resist the reply reflex- Don't send emails to say "Got it" or "thanks" it is okay to not reply.
Don't send an email and then call the person or visit their office to tell them you sent an email-Okay you would think this would be common sense but let me just say, quit it!
Okay so this is your challenge for the day, sit down and develop your own personal email policy. This list should help you get started so that you are more effective and email stops controlling your life!
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