Vinny's Blog

Are you swimming in emails? Does your email inbox double as your To-Do list? Has checking or responding to your emails taken over your work week?

If you answered ‘YES’ to any of these questions, then you, like most people, need help managing your time through effective email management.

Here are some email management tips that have been tried, tested and proven to maximize your time and work day.

Email Management Tips

• Only check your emails 2-4 times a day at certain, scheduled times and only for 30-45 minutes at a time.
• Deactivate all audio or visual alerts on your computer that notify you of new emails as they come in.
• Only reply to URGENT issues instantly and defer everything else based on priority
• To prevent multiple replies from emails sent to multiple people, place your email in the TO: field and put all other recipients in the BCC: field
• Never use the REPLY-ALL function
• If you don’t want / need a reply, then tell people by putting a “No Reply Necessary” message in the subject line or email header / footer
• Do not sent “Got it” “Thanks” “Ok” or any other confirmation replies unless the sender specifically asks for it
• Use Auto-Replies to set expectations of response times and to prevent interruptions during focused work time
• Do not send, forward or reply to chain emails

Some of these tips circle around how you create and send emails, not just how others create and send emails to you. By setting the standard with your recipients you are helping to prevent unnecessary emails for yourself in the future.