Posted by Maria Dimitrova

Read this if: You want to work more effectively without wasting time on email

Gain: Saving time for more important things

Cost: Changing some work routines

Time management might sound like a stressful activity in itself but people who are disciplined in the use of their time have more time to relax. Eliminating or reducing the activities that waste your time bring long-term benefits.

One of the biggest “time-wasters” at work is checking email. A study by Glasgow University found out that 50% of people check email more than once an hour and 35% check email every 15 minutes.

[Note from the editor: In the past I have caught myself opening and closing my mail program twice in a minute in some kind of obsessive compulsive behaviour. That was when I realized my time was not being used productively at all. Real life monitoring shows I was not alone with this problem of email addiction].

Some job positions like Customer support require constant monitoring of email when this is the main channel of communication with customers, but in most other cases, urgent communication can be accomplished by phone and checking email more than 3 times a day is unnecessary. It can be a hindrance to productivity as it’s preventing you from focusing on more demanding tasks. Productivity decreases by 20% to 40% as a result of “task switching

Here are some strategies to get things back into balance:

Check email only at set points during the day.

Three times should be enough. Make sure that audible and visual alerts of messages are turned off and spend time reading and responding to email after a long period of focused work, or at the time of day when your energy and creativity are at their lowest.

Filter your emails

Receiving various emails with different rate of importance clutters the Inbox and makes a person feel anxious that they have a lot to catch up with. This situation is avoidable when the emails are filtered in different folders. Most email programs, such as Outlook and Gmail, give you the option to set up “Rules” regarding the way the emails are being sorted. The filtering work is done automatically by the programs according to the folders you’ve created. In this way it’s easier to see which emails you have to read instantly and which can be dealt with later. Plus, it makes searching for past mail faster. Instead of scouring your entire email system, you can simply search in a particular folder.

Apply the Two-Minute Rule

Try using the “Two-Minute Rule” (a concept from David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done) – if the email will take less than two minutes (a quick read, and a short answer), then take care of it right now, even if it’s not a high priority.

The idea behind this is that if it takes less than two minutes to action, then reading it and  storing the task away in the “to do later” folder will take longer than it would to just deal with the task immediately.

Internal notifications

These are the “FYI” emails from the corporate office or team members that keep you informed about corporate events and human resources news. If you see your name in the “cc” field instead of the “To” field, it’s most likely a FYI email. Consider filing it in a “To Read” folder, and tackle it when you have time.

Write better emails

Your writing style is also very important in terms of efficient email communication. Make sure that you get straight to the point and express yourself clearly and concisely and try to anticipate questions that will be asked. This will save both your time and the recipient’s time, preventing follow up mails needing further clarification.

Make your subject line obvious

A lot of people ignore writing something or editing the subject line but it shouldn’t be neglected because it’s orientating and time-saving for the recipient when the subject line is exactly related to the content of the email. Ask your co-workers to use this field too.

Admit you have a problem:

If you find it very difficult to break the habit to check your email numerous times per day, maybe it has become an automatic reaction when you have to get down to a hard or tedious task or being logged out makes you feel isolated from the world.

Timothy  Pychyl, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology, who specializes in the study of procrastination, advises to use a a creative commitment device – a strategy to ensure you act in your best interest. In the case of email addiction, Gmail offers an add-on feature under the “Labs” tab of “Settings.” If you enable “Email Addict” a “Take a break” item will appear at the top right of your Gmail page. When you click it, you’ll be locked out of your mail for 15 minutes and made invisible on chat. This will help you focus on your work and gradually overcome your email addiction.

These strategies are simple but efficient. Often the small things are those that make a big difference when applied on a daily basis.