Beware of what Americans call 'busy work', jobs that make you feel as though you are making progress towards getting your work done but which are not really achieving anything. They can easily become pure procrastination. And there are some jobs which will happily swallow up all the time you can give them but yield very few results. These are the ones to watch out for.
Making some simple rules about how you use and process emails will save you time.
Only download your emails two or three times a day – mid-morning and midafternoon would be good times, as it gives people time to send stuff to you in the morning, and in the afternoon you will have time to respond before the end of the day. Reply straightaway. It's easy to think 'I'll deal with that later' and then forget.
Immediately delete as many emails as possible, or move them into named folders for later use. Your inbox will then only contain emails requiring action or those awaiting a reply. Out of sight can all too easily be out of mind if you need to scroll down to see emails in your inbox.
Be specific when writing subject headings and try to use information which will easily identify the email, such as names, dates and times. Sometimes you will need to find a particular email again quickly, and unique subject headings will avoid that time-consuming trawl through a long list, all with subjects like 'Invoice' or 'Meeting'.
Draft standard responses to regular enquiries and keep the templates in your Draft folder, but be sure you personalise every detail before sending them out. If you have taken time and care to write a friendly message, you don't want to ruin its effect by alerting the reader to the fact it's a standard draft.
Emailsmay be great for keeping in touch, but sometimes phone calls are still the faster and easier option, for example if you need to contact a group of people to change arrangements. You can never assume an email has reached its destination, or that the response to it hasn't gone astray.
It can be tempting to use email to avoid talking to someone, particularly if there is a problem to resolve, but this is the very time you do need to speak to them. The tone and intention of emails can be easily misunderstood, and the situation might just escalate.
Always re-read emails before pressing the Send key to pick up typing errors and check for possible misinterpretation. You know what was in your mind when you typed it, but the reader might understand something else entirely. If the matter is important, try to leave enough time to draft an email and go back to it after a while. With fresh eyes you may see some changes to make.
I hesitate to mention this last point as it seems so obvious, but I still come across it fromtime to time – EMAILS TYPED IN CAPITALS. Presumably the sender feels the contents are important but it only comes across as hectoring and creates a bad impression.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Rita Allesen at 05292010
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