Blog 47:  Help!  I’m losing the battle of the e mails – some perspectives and practical things you can do to win

person holding help sign overwhelmed by  mails
©LinkedIn

This three-part series has been designed to help you win the battle of the e mails – to prevent yourself from a feeling of being overwhelmed by too many e mails and develop strategies to feel you are in control.  So far we’ve looked at how to keep your inbox to a low level so you feel like you’re in control (blog 45) and how to avoid e mail paralysis and procrastination (blog 46).  This week we’ll provide some other practical suggestions so you can feel like you are in control of your e mails . . . rather than their being in control of you. 

You don’t go to the mailbox multiple times a day!

woman checking her mailbox
©Austockphoto

So why do you need to go to your e mail inbox so often?  Turn off your e mail notifications and discipline yourself to check your e mails at set times each day.  You may need to set an alarm to help you. 

Treat your e mails like going to the mailbox (Gen Zs:  that’s the box that tends to sit on a fence post outside your house where a guy in fluorescent colours drops envelopes in the box – smile).  We don’t constantly go to the mailbox each day, maybe we just check it once.  So, try and mentally approach your e mails in the same way.  Don’t let your e mail box control you – you control it.  Maybe check it five or less times each day.  You have a process for sorting and responding to e mails (blog 45).  You don’t need to respond instantly – for all a sender knows, you could be in a meeting.  Respond when you are ready to respond – on your terms. 

Checking your e mails constantly diverts your attention and keeps you from the deep work you need to succeed.  The e mail conversations become paramount in your mind.  Provide yourself with focus time on tasks that require your attention and then give your e mails focused attention . . . and then leave them alone for a couple of hours. 

Use templates

There are some things that require a common response.  While sending e mails, work on the business of sending e mails.  Look for commonalities.  You may find that you can have some templates stored where you regularly send a similar e mail.  A cut and paste using those templates will save you some time. 

Talaera provides 150+ useful e mail phrases to make your life easier.  You could use some of these phrases to streamline your e mail writing by making template responses. 

And if you find yourself writing the same (or similar) e mail continually, that’s a signal to use a template and retain it as a master. 

All these little bits of time add up.  You might be surprised what you have time to do if you could shave a bit off here (using templates) and there (only checking your e mails periodically during the day).  What could you do with these time savings to drive better outcomes and leap forward?

every little bit of savings adds up
©I don’t have time for that

And that completes this three-blog series on fighting the battle of the e mails.  I hope you find your application to the tips has resulted in you feeling on top of your e mails and saves you time in your daily life for the deep work that will make a big difference in your career.

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