Tips to manage your work emails

In the current digitalised world, emails have become an everyday part of life. It has become common to check emails on the go, and it has almost become an expectation to have a reply in a matter of minutes; but what is the best way to manage a constant influx of emails?

There are many different ways that work place emails can be managed, but below there are a few tips based on what we believe is a great place to start. These steps can be followed regardless of what email you are using.

Before beginning to implement a new strategy to manage emails in your work place, you and your staff should have a clear out! Everyone is guilty of saving emails ‘just in case’ you may need to refer back to it or subscribing to mailing lists that sound interesting in actual fact; they will collect dust in the inbox never to be looked at.  Making sure you and other staff de-clutter, and delete all unnecessary emails will not only make you feel super organised, but will also ensure you can make the most of the below tips.

Create separate folders to organise the inbox

This will de-clutter your main inbox, making it easier to manage the incoming mail, while making it simpler to find old emails that you may need to refer to in the future. It is entirely up to each individual member of staff to decide on what folders they want to create as each job role will need have different types of emails coming through. For example someone working in the HR department may choose to have folders such as, applicants, interview stage, information from current staff etc.

Dedicate a specific/set time to deal with emails

Setting aside specific time each day to check your inbox will allow you to concentrate on other important tasks without constantly being distracted by incoming mail or feeling guilty for neglecting emails. The amount of time you chooses to spend on emails will again vary depending on the job role, some will need to check every hour, and others will only need to check once a day depending on how much communication your job entails. If you are unsure, we would recommend starting with three times a day; once in the morning, then again in the early afternoon and then finally an hour or so before you go home. Once you have tried this for a few days you can begin to adjust depending on factors such as working around other day to day tasks and periods when there is an influx of mail.

Send less Mail

Some may think this one is silly and others will think it is rather obvious, but in order to receive fewer emails into your inbox; make a conscious effort to send less. Think about the email you are about to send, is it really needed or could you pick up the phone and have a quick conversation instead? Or even walk across the office and have a discussion. Not only does this save time writing emails as well as space in an inbox, but it also means you get an instant answer, rather than having to wait for a reply.

Create templates

Doing this won’t necessarily help to reduce the amount of emails received each day, but it will mean you spend less time replying to them. If you notice a pattern in your responses or if you are consistently sending similar emails, it may be worth considering creating some templates. This way you can just customise each template depending on who you are sending it to, rather than typing a whole new email every time. This may take quite a bit of time initially depending on how many templates staff members need to create, but will save a lot of time in the long run.

One touch rule

Adopting the one touch rule means you only come in to contact, with any incoming emails, once (This rule works best for those who set aside specific time to deal with emails). Once the email has been opened you must then do something with it, either by replying, carrying out the action that is required or putting it on your to do list, this can be either writing it on your physical to do list, or simply moving it to a different email folder. Once you have done this, it’s time to delete the email and get it out of your main inbox. This rule is a great one to adopt for anyone who finds them continuously read the same emails over and over again.

Unsubscribe from newsletters and junk mail

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, we are all guilty of subscribing to different newsletters and mailing lists, convincing ourselves that we will make time to read them. Whilst it may have seemed like a great idea to subscribe to anyone and anything that is remotely related to your personal interest as yourself, how many do you actually read? Unsubscribing from all of those that are left at the bottom of your email list will not only save you time when going through your inbox (because you won’t keep looking at the same list of emails never to be read) but it will also mean you can stay subscribed to a couple of particularly interesting newsletters, giving you the chance to actually read them. However, if you are going to stay subscribed to a few, remember once you have read them it is time to delete them!

These were just a few of our favourite ways to manage emails in our office. All of the suggestions can be implemented very easily without causing too much disruption to day to day activities – so give it a go and don’t forget to let us know how you get on! It’s a great feeling to finally have a clear inbox, so every time you achieve a completely clear inbox give yourself a big pat on the back as a well done!