Many, if not most of us, are often overwhelmed with their mailboxes. This can result in emails being replied to late, others not replied to at all and still others answered in haste. I read an article recently which offers some very nice tips to help remedy this situation. It is presented below.
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The Most
Common Two Minute Emails You Can Deal With Right Away
Haim Pekel Published in LifeHacker
productive This post originally appeared on IQTELL blog.
According to GTD methodology (Getting Things Done), if
something takes you less than two minutes, you should do it immediately—any
more, and it goes on your to-do list. Here are some of the most common
two-minute emails that you can spot from their subject line.P
Productivity 101: A Primer to the Getting Things Done (GTD) PhilosophyProductivity 101: A Primer to the Getting Things Done (GTD) PhilosophyProductivity 101: A Primer to the Getting Thing...
When we survey our inbox, most of us would like to have some
kind of estimation on how much time it's going to take to go through all the
messages. In order to do that, I created a list that contains the types of
emails we receive, and what we can expect in terms of the time they'll take to
deal with. And if it will take less than two minutes, you should deal with it
right away.
Our purpose is to try and explore various assumptions and
rules of thumb about our behavior when we process emails. These can be
extremely helpful, since in my experience, the more you can automate processes,
the less mental resources you need to apply. In particular, you can help
eliminate our constant inner debate: should I do it now or later? As an added
bonus, the result will leave enough unscathed mind power for the tasks that
really matter.
Of course, every rule has an exception; however, by making a
few assumptions, I've been able to streamline by email processing substantially.
Note that we're talking about your work inbox.
Two Minute Emails to Deal With
Immediately
FYI/Memo Emails
"FYI emails" are as a general rule of thumb less
than two minutes emails because most of the time they don't require any action
from your part. You can probably understand quickly what to do with them and
process them into your reference folder.
Promotional Emails
Promotional emails are messages sent to you from websites
that promote a product, an event, or information via newsletters. This type of
email splits into two categories: those that you're interested in and those
you're not.
Those you're interested in will definitely take you more
than two minutes since they can take you out of your workflow. Those you're not
interested in will of course take you less than two minutes and should be
removed from your inbox altogether.
Invitation Emails
Invite emails are an action email. They require you to take
a single action: accept or decline. Since the associated action is pretty
straight forward, all invite emails will likely take you less than two minutes.
There may be follow-up actions, e.g., buy gift, pick up dry cleaning, etc., but
you can and should at least accept or decline.
"Waiting for" Emails
"Waiting for" emails are reminder messages sent to
you from someone who's waiting for an action you need to perform. This type of
email is, of course, a less than two minute email because it often requires a
quick status update, like "I'll have it later afternoon."
FWD: Mass Emails
I don't know about you, but I never read mass emails and
classify them as trash immediately.
Emails That Will Take More than Two
Minutes
Personal Emails
Personal emails that land in your work email are probably
not related to your immediate tasks at hand. As such, they will take you more
than two minutes because they take you out of your "work" zone.
Mentally speaking, going in and out of focus will often take more than two
minutes. Treat them just a like an interruption and manage them accordingly.
Emails That Open Conversations or
Debates
It goes without saying that this kind of email will often
take more than two minutes of your time. It's quite tricky to identify these
emails before you open them. There's no one rule that can tell you if this is a
conversation or debate email or not. However, since we can identify from whom
we received this email and most of us have a clear recollection of our previous
interactions, we can assume what the email is going to be about by looking at
who sent it.
Social Media Emails
Social media emails are notifications and messages you
receive from social networks you're subscribed to, like Facebook or Twitter. As
a rule, I recommend removing all social notifications from your email. However,
they can end up taking more than two minutes since they can take you out of the
work workflow.
Returning Emails
This kind of returning email is either a message that
confirms something you've written, or is trying to clarify something you've
asked or said. This kind of message could go either way in terms of the time it
can take, since it's usually 50/50 whether you to need continue this email
chain to discuss or debate a certain point. I usually flag these as more than
two minutes. Sometimes I can tell based on the sender, the issue, and past
experience if I should flag it as under two minutes.
RE: RE: RE:
This is an easy one. The long RE: RE: RE: emails are without
a doubt a more than two minutes email. Those emails are by far the most time
consuming emails you'll ever encounter, why? My rule is never to respond, but
rather get on a call; and a call almost always take more than two minutes.
FW:
Forward emails are emails someone else identified as
relevant to you, since some else already gave those emails a review and decided
that you should handle them. I would classify FW: emails as more than two
minute emails.
===========================================In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, " Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:
www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki
If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo. I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and PSG of Mercer County, NJ.
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