This is your week to get rid of email overload – once and for all!  Sounds fantastic, right?  Well, just like any other “sounds too good to be true” claim, there’s more to the story.  Getting rid of email overload isn’t a single fight.  It’s an ongoing battle.  BUT, you can arm yourself with habits that significantly reduce the amount of emails you receive.  They’ll put you in better shape for that long-term success, too.  Here are your weapons:

Put communication guidelines in place. When people don’t know who to copy, they tend to copy everyone.  And then reply all takes over, which means you just got 20 messages in your inbox that you don’t need.  If there are certain people or teams you regularly communicate with, then plan a time to sit with them and map out who should be in the “To” and “Cc” fields for your most common topics.  Write it down and make sure everyone has a copy.  As new people come in to the team, make sure they have a copy, too.  Yes, this takes some planning on the front end, but the daily time-savings will more than make up for it.

Send fewer emails.  Remember that the more emails you put out there, the more emails are going to come back to you.  Plus, let’s face it - certain topics or situations just aren’t good for email.  They result in an unproductive flood of messages that weigh down both you and your coworkers.  Before you start writing, ask yourself:

1. Will my message spark more questions than I can preemptively answer in my email?  If so, you may be setting yourself up for an email deluge, especially if the message is to a group of people.  Instead, try to actually talk things through with the person/group.  You can always send a recap for documentation afterwards, if needed.
2. Is there confusion or a misunderstanding between me and the reader?  If so, email often isn’t the best choice.  Something simple could potentially be addressed, but a lot of times it’s much easier to have a quick conversation with the person.  Plus, it’ll save you the time of writing a painstaking explanation that still potentially falls short.

 
If you regularly receive reports or newsletters that aren’t time sensitive, set up a rule so that they bypass your inbox.  That way, you never have to take the extra step of seeing or handling them in your inbox.  You can check them out when it makes sense for your schedule.

If you are on distribution lists that are no longer relevant, take a few minutes to unsubscribe.  It may not seem like much, but every time you keep hitting “delete” for these messages, you are losing time that adds up.  (Don’t believe me? A study by the Danwood Group found that it takes an average of 64 seconds to recover from an email interruption.)  Make a 15-minute appointment with yourself every six months to do this kind of cleanup.

Our jobs evolve.  People come and go.  Given how much change we experience, it’s unrealistic to think that we can get rid of email overload once and for all.  (So stop pressuring yourself already!)  It’s an ongoing battle, but you can stay on the winning side by putting these habits in place.

Do you have a favorite tip for avoiding email overload?  Share it in the comments!

There’s a lot of advice about email out there.  Some of it’s helpful, some of it’s so-so, and some of it is downright problematic.  I usually dismiss the latter, but then I realized that other people might actually be following it – to the detriment of their careers.  Let’s set the record straight on some of these common tips:
 
Flawed advice: Only check email twice a day.
The problem: For many professionals, this suggestion is unrealistic.  While you shouldn’t feel the need to read each email as soon as it arrives, if you only check your inbox twice a day, you may miss out on critical information to keep projects moving or be unaware that priorities have shifted.
The alternative:  Check your email when it makes sense for your situation.  Maybe that’s once an hour.  Maybe it’s four times a day.  It depends on your office environment and expectations.  The key is that you are intentional about it.  You have to instill the discipline to remember, “I am the master of my inbox – not the other way around.”  Here are two simple tips that can help:

• Jot down your day’s to-do list before checking your inbox in the morning.  As new tasks come up during the day, having that concrete list will help you make better decisions about where they fall amongst your priorities.
  
• Turn off the sounds and visual pop-ups that indicate a new message hit your inbox (phone included!).  Otherwise, that urge to immediately see what’s new may take over, quickly making you feel like a human Ping-Pong® ball.
  

Flawed advice: Keep emails to five sentences or less, regardless of the recipient or subject.  (http://five.sentenc.es/ and the like)
The problem: Keeping emails to five sentences is a worthy goal, but sometimes there are perfectly valid reasons for sending a longer one.  Plus, if you have to sacrifice your email’s tone or leave out contextual details in order to be that concise, you aren’t doing yourself or your readers any favors.
The alternative:  To keep your emails easy to follow and easy on the eyes, try these tips:

• The purpose of the email should be clear within the first 1-2 sentences.  Don’t make people wait until the end!  For any subsequent paragraphs, start with the main idea and then go into the details.  Use the closing to make next steps clear.
  
• After you’ve drafted your email, look for words and phrases that can be shortened or eliminated without changing your meaning.  For example, the phrase “in the event that” can be shorted to “if.
  
• Stick to one thought per paragraph and use bulleted lists to make your content more digestible.  People’s eyes glaze over when they see one ginormous block of text.  Give them some white space and they’ll be much more likely to read the email.
  

Flawed advice: Stop using “Reply All.”
The problem: Although “Reply All” gets abused, it can actually be very helpful if you’re trying to maintain a specific distribution list.  It saves time and ensures you don’t accidentally forget someone.  If the people on the email are either engaged in or need to be aware of the conversation, then using “Reply All” is fine.
The alternative:  Be mindful of when you use “Reply All” instead of automatically clicking it.  You want to pay attention to who’s getting the email and ask yourself if they really need it.  Sending a personal message to just one individual?  Probably not a good time to use “Reply All.”  You can check out my other tips to avoid “Reply All” evil here.

By now, you’ve probably noticed a pattern.  Inflexible rules usually don’t work for email.  We’d all love an easy, auto-pilot solution, but as long as we’re communicating with humans, it just isn’t that simple.  Fortunately, we have amazing brains that can help us read the situation and make good decisions.  Let’s use them!

Do you disagree?  Have a tip you want to add?  Please let me know in the comments!

It’s easy to identify other people’s email lemons, but what about our own?  Are we filling our coworkers’ inboxes with frustration?  Here are 10 ways to find out (and correct the problem):

1.      You send emails without a subject line.  Stop it.  People need subject lines.  It helps them prioritize their inbox and find messages later.  Always make sure you have one – no exceptions.  Keep them short (ideally 5 words or less), specific, and meaningful to both you and the reader.

2.      When you send simple requests via email, the recipient usually writes back with a bunch of questions.  You aren’t giving the recipient enough context for the request.  People like to know why they are being asked to do something.  You also have to put yourself in their shoes by considering their knowledge level on the topic.  What other details might they need to know in order to fulfill this request?  What questions might they have?  Preemptively addressing these details saves a lot of back and forth (a.k.a. distraction) later.

3.      When you send an email to a group, it results in an avalanche of emails.  Either you didn’t give enough context (as described in #2) or you broached a topic that shouldn’t have ever been introduced by email.  Not that meetings don’t have their pitfalls, but they can be a much better forum for kicking off new initiatives, discussing complex problems, or any other topic requiring a healthy exchange of dialogue.

4.      You regularly misspell the recipient’s name.  If you’re this careless with his or her name, you’re probably careless with the rest of your email, too.  Pay attention.

5.      Your emails consist of one long paragraph.  Yes, this depends on how each person pulls up the email, but if your paragraphs are longer than five sentences, you’re probably in the danger zone.  Don’t make your coworkers’ eyes glaze over…make sure you only have one thought per paragraph.

6.      You don’t tell people why you are writing to them…until the end of your email.  Don’t make people wade through sentence after sentence – wondering where it’s all headed.  Tell them why you are reaching out in the first sentence or two and then follow up with the details.

7.      You always use “reply all.”  Just because you have the option doesn’t mean it’s always appropriate to use…in fact, it’s not.  For example, don’t use “reply all” to send personal messages or to point out someone’s mistake.  The key is to be thoughtful and intentional about where you are directing your message.

8.      Your emails have some sort of wallpaper or cutesy background effect.  Get rid of it.  You have plenty of opportunities to show your personality at work – this isn’t one of them.  These effects are distracting to your reader.  Plus, they often screw up the formatting of the whole email trail, which is super frustrating for anyone trying to respond to you.

9.      When you email a group of people, you have a hard time getting a response.  Take a look at one of those emails.  Did you direct it to a specific person, or did you send it to the whole group in hopes that someone would be proactive and respond?  If it’s the latter, you’re setting yourself up for failure every time.  Eliminate the ambiguity.  Address your email to someone.

10.   You’re “too busy” to proofread.  Reading over your email at least once before hitting “send” isn’t optional.  It’s important to give yourself an opportunity to catch potentially embarrassing, confusing typos and grammatical errors, as well as make sure your finished work actually hangs together.  (And did you include your attachments?)

Let’s be kind to our coworkers by minimizing the sour, frustrating “email lemons” we’re putting out there.  This list is a great start in identifying our problem spots, so share it around the office and let me know what you’d like to add to it!

If you’ve ever sworn that “reply all” is the root of all evil in your overstuffed inbox, you aren’t alone.  The Nielsen Company was even celebrated several years ago when they disabled the button on their corporate email system.  Let’s be real, though – the button isn’t evil.  It’s the person thoughtlessly using it who is the problem. In Nielsen’s case, the company was reacting to a senior leader who used it to accidentally send a rude email to the whole company.  Maybe in your organization, you just wish people would stop “replying all” to Susan’s note about cupcakes in the conference room.  In either case, a little extra thought and awareness would go a long way.

We can’t always control other people’s use of “reply all,” but we can control ourselves (and hopefully be a good influence).  Make sure you aren’t using “reply all” in these three situations: 

1. In response to mass communication – If you see that the email is a generic message being sent to your whole company, a group of conference attendees, etc., there’s no reason for you to include everyone on your response.  It’s great that you’re RSVPing to the company picnic, but the whole building doesn’t need to know.
2. To point out someone’s mistake – Even if it’s something simple like a missing attachment, please let people maintain their dignity.  Send your comment only to the sender – he or she will be appreciative and possibly return the favor some day.
3. To send a personal message to one person – One of the most common personal messages is the “thank you” email.  If you feel compelled to thank the sender, that’s fine.  The whole group, however, doesn’t need the message in their inbox.  (Leaders who are using the email to show recognition to a team member are an exception here.)

Every email is an opportunity to be better, and we can all stand to be more conscious of using the “reply all” button – conscious being the key word.  Before robotically clicking it, take two seconds to ask yourself if “reply all” is really appropriate.  Your coworkers will thank you.