10 ways to get a grip on your email
CNN enters the world of GTD with an article that gives recommendations on how to handle email overload. Okay, they don’t really recommend the GTD system, but they do give simple and practical advice about how to handle email overload.
Quit boomeranging. Send 5 e-mails and you’ll get, on average, 3 responses, most of which aren’t necessary. If you eliminate just 1 in 5 of your outgoing e-mails, you’ll instantly shrink the incoming volume, and save time on needless back-and-forth exchanges.
Stop – then send. Before hitting the “send” button, ask yourself: Is this information timely, topical, and targeted? Will it help the recipient do his or her job better? If not, skip it.
Be polite, up to a point. Not every e-mail requires a reply, especially if it’s just a routine “thanks!” The authors recommend that, with the people you e-mail (and who e-mail you) most often, you try including an acronym in the subject line like “NTN” (no thanks needed) or “NRN” (no reply needed) – a simple but effective time-saver.
Schedule live conversations. Instead of sending an e-mail that will initiate a long back-and-forth discussion, try scheduling an in-person or phone meeting instead. You’ll often get a lot more done in less time.
Strengthen your subject lines. Vague subject lines confuse recipients and make e-mails hard to locate later. One-word categories, like “Request” or “Confirmation,” along with relevant information like dates or times, add clarity and context to your messages.
Head over to CNN to grab the rest of the recommendations.
10 ways to get a grip on your e-mail –
