How to Spend Less Time on Email
Receive less email., Resist the temptation to subscribe to mailing lists, google alerts, and anything else that automatically sends you email., Use a spam filter., Identify and filter out your bacon email., Check less email., Read less email., Write...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Receive less email.
The less people know your email address, the less mail you will receive.
Especially you don't want spammers to know it.
If your email address is already too widely known, consider getting a new one.
Use the old email address for registering on dubious websites, and don't bother checking it much.
Just let it fill up with irrelevant messages.
Only tell your real email address to people you really want to communicate with.
Don't put it on any website or publicly accessible directory. -
Step 2: Resist the temptation to subscribe to mailing lists
Unsubscribe or filter the ones you are already signed up for.
Only a small proportion of the information they send you will be relevant.
You save more time by searching for the information you need when you need it, rather than being constantly inundated with mostly irrelevant emails. , Many web based email programs such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail automatically filter most spam.
It's just that SPAM! Unwanted email and time should not be spent going through this folder and you better not be clicking on links or asking your IT dept why you have so much in there. , Bacon is the unsolicited email you get that isn't spam, but you don't really need to read urgently.Example bacon email includes Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace friend requests, mailing lists, e-commerce purchase confirmations, etc.
Create a filter for all these types of emails and have them bypass your inbox and go to a folder or label.
Checking that folder only once every few days will help you batch process these non-urgent emails faster. , Every time you check your email, you waste precious seconds seeing if anything new has come in, as well as getting distracted from something more worthwhile.
It's more efficient to set aside certain times when you deal with your email, and keep away from it the rest of the time.
After you've had your email session, close your email program down.
If you have a lot of work-related email, you may need to deal with it twice a day, say morning and afternoon.
Otherwise, try keep it to once a day.
If you succeed in reducing the volume of your email going in and out, you could manage to limit it to every two or three days, or even once a week. , The most time-saving way of dealing with unwanted email is to delete it before you read it.
If you can tell from the sender and subject line that it is irrelevant, resist the temptation to open it just in case.
Just delete it with gusto.
The second fastest way to deal with email is to open it, glance at it, and then delete it if it is irrelevant.
If it is relevant, you can read it carefully so the information is registered in your brain, and then delete it immediately.
Don't wait until later to delete it.
If you wait, you will probably waste time later opening it again and glancing at it to remember what it was.
Your goal is to process each email only once. , Don't feel you have to answer or acknowledge every email.
If you do need to reply to an email, the most time efficient way is to reply immediately and briefly, and then delete the email.
Try to have as few emails as possible that are stored waiting for you to reply to. , Try not to use the “Reply All” option.
Don't send copies of your email to people who don't really need them.
Ask yourself, “Will the person who receives this email of mine be glad to get it?” If the answer is, “Not sure,” think twice about sending it.
By spending less time writing and sending emails, you will help other people to spend less time reading them. , Some emails have important information that you need to keep, so it is good to file them systematically in folders.
Otherwise you spend too much time looking for them later when you need them.
But don't spend more time storing emails than absolutely necessary.
Use filters or message rules to automatically store emails from certain senders or with certain subject lines in particular folders.
The best way to save time storing emails is to delete them after reading, as mentioned above.
The less emails you store, the less you will be tempted to look at twice. , A great way to waste time is by reorganizing your email folders, or going through old emails deciding which ones to throw away.
If you are in a deleting mood, it is better to delete whole folders at a time.
Otherwise just leave them.
If your old emails are taking up too much space, sort them by size and delete a whole bunch of the bigger ones. , This might involve going for a walk with your sweetheart, calling up an old friend, reading a good book, making music, helping someone in need, or whatever else that gives more joy than sitting at the computer with piles of email. -
Step 3: google alerts
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Step 4: and anything else that automatically sends you email.
-
Step 5: Use a spam filter.
-
Step 6: Identify and filter out your bacon email.
-
Step 7: Check less email.
-
Step 8: Read less email.
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Step 9: Write less email.
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Step 10: Send less email.
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Step 11: Store less email.
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Step 12: Sort less email.
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Step 13: At the end of the week
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Step 14: spend the time you have saved by doing something pleasurable.
Detailed Guide
The less people know your email address, the less mail you will receive.
Especially you don't want spammers to know it.
If your email address is already too widely known, consider getting a new one.
Use the old email address for registering on dubious websites, and don't bother checking it much.
Just let it fill up with irrelevant messages.
Only tell your real email address to people you really want to communicate with.
Don't put it on any website or publicly accessible directory.
Unsubscribe or filter the ones you are already signed up for.
Only a small proportion of the information they send you will be relevant.
You save more time by searching for the information you need when you need it, rather than being constantly inundated with mostly irrelevant emails. , Many web based email programs such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail automatically filter most spam.
It's just that SPAM! Unwanted email and time should not be spent going through this folder and you better not be clicking on links or asking your IT dept why you have so much in there. , Bacon is the unsolicited email you get that isn't spam, but you don't really need to read urgently.Example bacon email includes Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace friend requests, mailing lists, e-commerce purchase confirmations, etc.
Create a filter for all these types of emails and have them bypass your inbox and go to a folder or label.
Checking that folder only once every few days will help you batch process these non-urgent emails faster. , Every time you check your email, you waste precious seconds seeing if anything new has come in, as well as getting distracted from something more worthwhile.
It's more efficient to set aside certain times when you deal with your email, and keep away from it the rest of the time.
After you've had your email session, close your email program down.
If you have a lot of work-related email, you may need to deal with it twice a day, say morning and afternoon.
Otherwise, try keep it to once a day.
If you succeed in reducing the volume of your email going in and out, you could manage to limit it to every two or three days, or even once a week. , The most time-saving way of dealing with unwanted email is to delete it before you read it.
If you can tell from the sender and subject line that it is irrelevant, resist the temptation to open it just in case.
Just delete it with gusto.
The second fastest way to deal with email is to open it, glance at it, and then delete it if it is irrelevant.
If it is relevant, you can read it carefully so the information is registered in your brain, and then delete it immediately.
Don't wait until later to delete it.
If you wait, you will probably waste time later opening it again and glancing at it to remember what it was.
Your goal is to process each email only once. , Don't feel you have to answer or acknowledge every email.
If you do need to reply to an email, the most time efficient way is to reply immediately and briefly, and then delete the email.
Try to have as few emails as possible that are stored waiting for you to reply to. , Try not to use the “Reply All” option.
Don't send copies of your email to people who don't really need them.
Ask yourself, “Will the person who receives this email of mine be glad to get it?” If the answer is, “Not sure,” think twice about sending it.
By spending less time writing and sending emails, you will help other people to spend less time reading them. , Some emails have important information that you need to keep, so it is good to file them systematically in folders.
Otherwise you spend too much time looking for them later when you need them.
But don't spend more time storing emails than absolutely necessary.
Use filters or message rules to automatically store emails from certain senders or with certain subject lines in particular folders.
The best way to save time storing emails is to delete them after reading, as mentioned above.
The less emails you store, the less you will be tempted to look at twice. , A great way to waste time is by reorganizing your email folders, or going through old emails deciding which ones to throw away.
If you are in a deleting mood, it is better to delete whole folders at a time.
Otherwise just leave them.
If your old emails are taking up too much space, sort them by size and delete a whole bunch of the bigger ones. , This might involve going for a walk with your sweetheart, calling up an old friend, reading a good book, making music, helping someone in need, or whatever else that gives more joy than sitting at the computer with piles of email.
About the Author
James Mitchell
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in crafts and beyond.
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