strategies for email productivity

Get a Life!

Strategies for Email Productivity

Feeling overwhelmed?

How’s your RAM Space?

I need to buy

milk.

Did I email George?

What happened on Glee last night?

Where did I

park my

car?

Do you suffer from Decision Fatigue?

Why ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues and families, splurge on clothes, buy junk food at the supermarket and can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rustproof their car.

No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be you can’t make decision after decision without paying a biological price.

- New York Times, John Tierney, August 17, 2011

Email… by the numbers

How many emails do you think the average worker receives in a day?

50? 100? 200? How much does your productivity decrease every

time you multi-task? 20% to 40%

Just think…….

Would you run up and down your driveway 14 times a day to check the mail?

That’s what checking email is!

Geralin Thomas

Metropolitan Organizing

Time to stop the insanity!

Factors For Email Productivity

Where is your weak link? Skills for productivity include:

Complexities? Variables? Lots of research? Decision making

Answering email at 2 am or Dinner? Lots of interruptions? Boundary setting

Repeatedly needing to clarify, share common language? Communication skills

Not sure what to do first, what is most important? Prioritizing

Not enough time to do it all, takes too much time to do? Time management

○ Casey Moore○ Stop Organizing, Start Producing Casey Moore Inc.

Managing E-Mail

Choose Your ToolOutlook is not the only optionMozilla Thunderbird top ratedHotmail easiest to categorizeGmail easiest to integrate with smart phoneSpam filters

Multiple Email AccountsCompartmentalize Personal, Professional, ShoppingProfessional requires professional nameReading Folder or RSS feed (feed reader)

Managing EmailInside the Organizer’s RSS Feed

Managing Email Inside the Organizer’s Email

Managing E-Mail

Make a decisionDeleteDelegateDo itDefer? Not!

Email Guidelines

Expedite communicationPhone vs. Email (Rule of 3, Set a date, Finalize)

Carefully use auto-fill (the Kevins) Unsubscribe Subject lines Replies

No reply necessaryEOM

Smart Phone Email Guidelines

Open safely Open what you can act on asap Only open critical emails Open what you can delegate Consolidate your contacts Connections

“Use it for good, not evil”

E-mail Triage

Establish 3 times to check and triage your email Set one time to “work” your email Defer distractions during your “work” time File your email as you go Color code with Red and ?

Email with Multi-Tasking

THINK: Uni-tasking!Researchers studying the brain and cognitive abilities keep discovering that we need to focus on one task at a time to work effectively.

Men and women lower their IQ by 10 points when they’re asked to do two things at the same time.

Safety! Don’t open your email whilewalking or driving!

E-Mail Tricks For Filing Sort by name, date or subject E-mails you’re keeping

Create file foldersPeriodically purgeDetach attachments and save in

WordKeep it simple sweetieJust take a minute to delete

Email Tricks for FilingSorted by “Sent Date”

Email Tricks for Filing Sorted by “TO”

Ellen’s Top 10 Email Rules

Know your strengths: Monica, Mary, Janice, Jake

Make changes by baby steps (Kaizen) Inbox means ACTION Do It, Delegate it, Delete It Email Triage (3 and 1)

Ellen’s Top 10 Email Rules Power Hour and Email free times Phone instead Subjects and signatures File and delete as you go Simple Subfolders

Processed, Completed, Off my plateParallel your paper files

Email in Productive Perspective

Return on Investment

Ask the Organizer

Ellen Delap

Certified Professional Organizer and

Certified Family Manager Coach

Professional-Organizer.com 281-360-3928 Twitter @ TexasOrganizer Linked in EllenDelap/ProfOrg Facebook EllenDelapProfessionalOrganizer

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