7 Tips for Conquering Your Inbox

Email was supposed to make running a business easier. But for many of us, email has taken over our workdays and personal lives, becoming more of a nuisance than a useful tool. Here are seven tips to help you take control of your inundated inbox so you can spend your valuable time making more happen with your business.

But first, let’s take stock of just how much time we spend on email.

spent managing email by the average knowledge worker in a typical 50-hour workweek

of the messages that make it past the spam filter are still spam

A business user typically sends and receives more than

14 hours

20%

100emails/day

16 hours/year28+72+G The typical user deletes around 70 emails a day.

Even though it only takes a few seconds per email, it can add up to

In 16 hours, you instead could:

• Write 32 posts for your business’s blog

• Have 8 meetings to discuss and revise

your company’s business plan

• Take 48 rejuvenating 20-minute catnaps

Shocking Email Stats

Understand the scope of the problem. Evaluate a typical week of email. What percentage is personal versus business mail? What’s spam versus useful information? What should be kept long-term and what can be read and deleted? How many customer service inquiries are you receiving? Once you acknowledge how much and what kind of email you really get, you can enact some positive changes:

Now, Get Started

01. Search and Unsubscribe

Tip:

Do a search in your email program for the term “unsubscribe,” which will pull all messages from recurring senders. Unsubscribe from all emails you don’t regularly read or that don’t pertain directly to your business or industry.

“It might be quicker to just delete now and say, ‘I’ll unsubscribe

later,’ but if you wade into the mess and unsubscribe [now],

you’ll thank yourself later.”

– Michael LaRocca, Editor, SUCCEED Member

Tip:

Adjust notification settings for all social media to send a summary of activity once per week rather than daily or every time something happens. This is particularly helpful if you have business accounts with high levels of engagement.

02. Stop Spamming Yourself

03. Touch EachEmail Only Once

Tip:

Try to tackle each message once and move on rather than reading, categorizing, reading again and then answering it. “One and done” is the most efficient method and will help increase productivity.

04. Keep toa Schedule

Tip:

Choose no more than three times per day to check email. SUCCEED member and business attorney Roy Landers recommends scheduling specific times to review and respond to email. Plan these sessions for your company’s least busy times so you can focus on communication without ignoring customers who may need help in person.

05. Develop aWorkflow

Tip:

Have a system to categorize and deal with email later if you can’t deal with it now. Simply marking items as unread works well, as does a “to-do” folder where you can move more pressing correspondence from business partners and vendors. SUCCEED member and CPA Deborah Todd also suggests turning off email notifications when you know you cannot respond to emails to keep the climbing count from distracting you.

Tip:

You can have incoming email sorted into folders as it comes in, but don’t do this if it means you’ll be habitually checking a dozen inboxes instead of just one. SUCCEED member Jackie Nagel, a strategic business coach at Synnovatia, has found rules helpful to stay focused on one subject at a time on the job.

06. Use Rules with Care

07. Send Less,Receive Less

Tip:

The less email you send out, the fewer responses you will have to deal with. Instead, try calling your customers and vendors when necessary. As a bonus, the conversation may spark a valuable idea or an improvement for your business. For internal communications, look into messaging services, such as Flowdock, to interact with your team without sending emails every time you have a simple question or request.

> SaneBox

SaneBox analyzes and sorts your messages to move unimportant email to a separate folder.

> AquaMail

AquaMail lets you sort and color-code email and create quick response messages.

> Inbox Pause

Inbox Pause stockpiles incoming email and delivers it in a batch when you are ready to

review it.

> Boxer

Boxer lets you turn emails into action items on a to-do list for yourself or your employees.

> K-9 Mail

K-9 Mail helps you view and manage multiple email accounts from a single unified inbox.

Tools for Managing Your Inbox with Ease

For more tips on how to smartly manage your inbox, visit the

Staples Small Business Hub.

> http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/the_social_economy

Sources