1. Turn your email settings to manually send and receive and then only hit the send and receive button at pre-determined times during the day. Don’t have it do it real time. Have it do it on your terms.
2. Turn off any auditory bells or visual alerts that tell you that you have a new email message waiting. Not only are these cues a costly interruption to your workday, but they are also tempting prompts that can lure you into spending too much time in your email program.
3. Train your team, vendors, and clients to understand that you personally will not be on email during your focus day(s). Give them an alternative method of getting help in an emergency situation, and if necessary, define what that emergency is and isn’t.
4. Age your email. The sooner you respond to an email the more email you will get. Sometimes the best thing you can do to reduce your overall email volume is to age your email by a few days to a few weeks before you respond. It’s amazing how effective this is to encourage people to email you less.
5. Use the 1-2-3 email subject line technique to help your company better filter email throughout the company. A “1″ at the start of the subject line means “Urgent and Important Action Required”. A “2″ at the start of the subject line means “action required, but okay if it happens over next few days.” A “3″ at the start of the subject line means “FYI only, no action required”.
E.g. Subject: 1: Parker contract needs to be sent in by 5pm today
E.g. Subject: 2: 5 action steps for Bond St. location
Using these cues to your recipient inside your company lets your team better filter which emails they need to handle and when.
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