Okay. Now it is time to rant. This past week I received at least 15 e-mail messages with this simple one or two word response, “thanks” or “ok.”

Hey, I know folks are just trying to be nice. BUT – We have got to let go of our need to keep the trail going. With the average worker receiving anywhere from 100 to 150 e-mail messages daily, let’s do everyone a favor and stop with the one word responses.

I actually received this response — “Thanks — and how are the kids?”  Puh-lease! It is bad enough that you send me an e-mail I didn’t need, but now you are asking me to comment on something absolutely and totally unrelated to the original stream of information.

The one exception that I can tolerate as a one-word response is something that relates to a meeting or scheduling or timing. I actually do like to receive a message that says “Confirmed.”

What are your pet peeves?

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Here are some great tips from Fast Company’s Work Smart Column on how to manage your email after being out of the office for several days.

http://www.fastcompany.com/article/work-smart-how-to-power-through-a-mountain-of-e-mail#

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In the first line of your e-mail, place the action request.

Too many e-mail messages are too long, and unfortunately bury the action that the sender is requesting of the reader. By changing your habits to make sure that the action that you intend to be taken as a result of your e-mail message is clearly stated in the very first line of the e-mail, you will be surprised with the results.

Here are some examples:

• Please respond to me by Tuesday, June 4, with your availability.
• This article is for your information only.
• Here are the directions to our off-site retreat, please save them.
• Please submit your recommendations for blah blah blah by this Friday.
• The enclosed documents should be brought to our Thursday staff meeting.

By being direct on exactly what response you desire from the reader, you will help them manage their work, be clearly understood.

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Email Tip: Set work reminder alarms for the same time.

You’ve learned how to set reminders… When you use them to remind you to do work (rather than attend a meeting, or some event that is time sensitive), set the reminder for the same time each day. This way, you’ll have all of the tasks that need to be accomplished that day together. It can be maddening to get reminders all throughout the day, after you’ve already planned your day. So if you plan your work at about 8:00am, set your work reminders for that time so that you have them as you are planning your work!

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Efficiency Tip: Sort (rather than work) your email

Please forward this tip to every e-mailer you know… Let’s help each other be more efficient.

Here’s the tip:

Too many emailers confuse “sorting” email with “working” email. When you go into your inbox, open it with the intention of SORTING. Don’t get romanced into the need to knock a few off the list. This is one of the reasons people feel like they’re not getting stuff done — it is because they spend too much time on the wrong stuff! Then, when you sort, put them somewhere. DO NOT leave them in your inbox. If you need more help on how to do this, click here.

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Should I send a blind copy of an email to myself, so that I have a record of it?

NO. NO. NO!

That’s extra work. That will create another email to handle.

If you want or need to save an item that you sent, go into your sent mail, as soon as it is sent, and do whatever you were going to do with that blind copied email. By doing it all in one sequence, you’ll finish the task and be able to move onto the next.

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Email is NOT a meeting! Don’t try to make it one!

Some people use e-mail to “discuss” issues and gain opinions. Each time an opinion question is sent to numerous people or to a group list, the e-mails tend to develop branches: the opinions multiply exponentially, the threads take on different paths, and each recipient is now receives multiple strings of the same subject e-mail that have gone in different directions. It all results in spending much more collective time than a one time meeting or teleconference may have taken. This makes it more difficult for participants to see the big picture and hear the overall opinions. The multiple threads are confusing and time consuming.

Instead of using e-mail this way, it is much more effective and productive to call a meeting and discuss the issue in detail. Invoke the “two-round rule:” when you see e-mails developing circling back the second time, call a meeting to discuss the issue in further detail and put an end to future lack of productivity caused by all those e-mails. Better yet, call the meeting in the first place.

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Viral Efficiency Tip: Top-Down Inbox

Please forward this tip to every e-mailer you know…

Let’s help each other be more efficient.

Here’s the email efficiency tip:

Sort your newly received e-mail from top to bottom or bottom to top. Don’t scroll looking for the “easy” ones – IT WASTES TIME! View each email, either handle it, delete it, or sort it into a folder to work later, and once it is removed from your inbox, THEN move on to the next one in line.

Just think: every time you scroll looking for “treasure” you waste time.

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OK OK. We all know that the more organized we are, the more efficient we can be…

But what does that mean?

Here are 12 Tips that you might consider to organize your desk,  from the blog Productivity 501

http://www.productivity501.com/12-tips-for-an-organized-desk/151/

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Today’s free resource comes with a slight hitch.  For you to receive this five-page PDF of e-mail best practices, you have got to have an empty inbox!

After all, it is Clean Out Your Inbox Week, isn’t it?  Email that screen print to us at info@marshaegan.com, and we will send you a link for this five-page PDF, entitled “Reduce Your Email, Reclaim Your Productivity.”

Good stuff — we promise!

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