In this digital age, email has become one of the most popular and convenient methods of communication at a professional level. Within seconds you can convey your message to a person sitting in the same room or on the other side of the world.
Emails have enabled business owners and entrepreneurs to manage and maintain their business from anywhere around the globe.
With just a single email address, you can communicate with your colleagues, clients, customers, and employees, etc. and even schedule your meetings as well as tasks that need your attention. It is also a handy tool when it comes to setting reminders for important upcoming events.
Effectively Managing Email
Despite being a great communication tool, emails can sometimes become a little overwhelming and overbearing for the users. Imagine the hassle of going through a lot of emails every single day. This is not an issue anymore. We will discuss several ways of managing your emails so that you don’t get exhausted because of your emails.
Regular email checking
To keep your email at a level that is reasonable and can be easily managed, check it regularly. Do not keep your mails pending for your attention as this can pile up some important mails that you might end up sending to the trash folder without paying much attention to them.
Set a specific time to check all the emails for example, in the afternoon after completing your top priority for the day or at the end of your work day. This way you will be able to keep a track of the regular mails that are coming without getting bothered for the rest of the coming day.
Notifications
Do you have the sudden urge to check your phone every time it beeps with a notification?
To keep in touch with the people and businesses around the world is a good habit. However, getting distracted again and again is something nobody signs up for. Set a time when you want to receive all your notifications or simply turn off the alerts.
This will save you time and you will avoid getting distracted during your routine of work but if your business is based on emails as the main mode of communication, then you must learn to prioritize the circumstances.
Reading and response time
David Allen, the world-famous author of the book Getting Things Done has stated a two-minute rule when it comes to reading your emails. The two-minute concept means that you prioritize the emails that can be read and responded to within the first two minutes. If the email is taking longer than that, it is going straight in your “To-do List” or any other folder that you have set for tasks that need your attention.
Daylite Tip: If you’re using Daylite as your CRM, you can create a task from the email and set a due date and reminder. This can be done right from your inbox either on the Mac through Daylite Mail Assistant, or on your iPhone/iPad through the Mail feature in Daylite.
Organize and filter your email
Imagine having an inbox with no email because everything is precise and filtered into the right place. What a heaven for people who have to deal with several emails a day. It is convenient to maintain an empty inbox by filtering everything. You will be required to set up an email filing system for this regard. Create files according to the type of email you are dealing with and place relevant emails in the relevant folder.
Daylite Tip: To clear out your inbox without having to use email folders, check out how to use Daylite to achieve Inbox Zero. You can process emails by linking them to the appropriate client, project, etc in your database. Then you can archive or delete the email so it’s out of your inbox, while knowing it’s organized in Daylite and can be easily referenced or searched.
Customize spam filters and unsubscribe
Spam filters can be enabled and customized according to your requirement. You can enable these filters to receive fewer emails that are considered as spam. If your spam filters are high, you will receive fewer or no emails that you consider as unnecessary. Unsubscribing to newsletters and cold emails that play no role in your work life and have no chance of helping you with the business can reduce the number of emails you receive every day.
Clean sweep your mailbox
Your mailbox needs a monthly or fortnightly clean depending upon the intensity of receiving emails. Allow yourself time to go through emails that are stored in folders and delete the ones that you feel are not worthy anymore. Try to decrease the size of your mailbox folders to as low as zero. This is not possible if you need to save some important emails for the future but the amount can reduce.
Set boundaries with your team
If you have employees or colleagues who send you prolonged emails, inform them to use an instant messaging app like Slack or schedule a meeting for anything that is urgent or requires a conversation. Try to talk them into keeping their emails precise and short. Furthermore, if they require training or basic know-how on how to assemble effective emails, it’s your responsibility to provide them with it.
Organize your sent email
Sent mail folder is often neglected as people tend to send emails and forget it. You know what you have sent so why check it again and again? It is obvious that if you filter your sent mails, you will not have the trouble of finding the files that you once sent.
Daylite Tip: If you’re using Daylite as your small business CRM, you can save all emails in Daylite through Daylite’s Apple Mail integration feature so that if you need to check what email you sent to a client, you can view that history in Daylite all tied to the client. If you have any attached documents or files in the email, you can also save those in Daylite so everything is stored in one place and tied to the person’s record.
Knowledge about system and software
Many people know what system they are using, but certainly there is lack of knowledge regarding most of the features it has to offer. According to a research, many people know as less as 20% of the features of the email management program they are using.
It is important to find out about all of the features that your email system has to offer. You might end up with a feature that can save you a lot of time. Companies that offer internet marketing services usually make use of all the features of an email system which makes their email marketing campaigns so effective.
Conclusion
Once you are in business, people are most likely to reach you out via your email address. This means that regular email, advertisement emails, spam messages, follow-ups and reminders, etc. will be entering your inbox on a daily basis.
Try to keep your work and personal emails separate. Work email should be a formal one with only the mails concerning your business or work life. To maintain a happy and successful career you must keep your priorities straight and your inbox clean and up to date. Your prompt responsiveness is what gives your image as a professional.
About the author:
Shawn Mike has been working with writing challenges for clients for over five years. His educational background in the technical field and business studies has given him the edge to write on many topics. He occasionally writes blog articles for Dynamologic Solutions.
