Emails are a necessary evil - you have heard that before.
With Messaging and Missed calls ,Tweets and News feeds , face book status and blogs - information, data, knights, meeting notes, action items, reorganization information, Nigerian prince property that belongs to you,groupon deals many more things come to you.
You find them.
The only one most folks are scared off and mention a lot in their conversation - emails.
Most folks are afraid to go back to office or come back from vacation (if there is such a concept called vacation) for fear of meeting their Inbox which looks like it ate 5 Cheeseburgers everyday for 30day and became big,fat and ugly!
Technique 1 - GTD - Getting This Done book has a great concept which I implement partially and I strongly recommend you implement fully. I preach what I don't practice.
Look at your emails - one at a time.
Understand if you need to act on them.
If you need to act on it - check if you can do it under 2 minutes. (start a timer on your smart phone or chrome extension) . If not there is a followup folder,drag into calendar and setup a meeting in your calendar and other useful technique.
Technique 2 Never reply to more than 3 emails a day
Emails - if you ration your reply to 3 emails per day it benefits you a lot and the other person also stops. Every action has an equal and reply all email.
Technique 3 Move all emails to another folder and wait!
Yes. Once you move them to another folder people who need stuff from you will ping you ,call you , ask for a meeting or come in person and do everything to reach you. Then you know the priority of things to be done.
Technique 4 from 4 hour work week
Check and respond to email twice a day. Yes. at 11 and 4 pm and inform people that you will following this technique. Provide a phone number and be available to be reached on call in case they want you to reach you.
Being available doesn't have to be through email.
Close your outlook and ask your manager what is expected from you
This technique forces you to ask what you are paid to deliver than to respond to emails.
In any case, every day before you open your email box you must have a plan on what you want to do that day otherwise responding to emails will become your unofficial plan.
Stop checking emails in mobile phones,browsers and in all times. It is not worth it. Email is rude and is a one way communication. An email with more than 10 lines and 1 attachment is a crime against humanity and I do it often!
Keep emailing
Sivakumar Manikanteswaran
With Messaging and Missed calls ,Tweets and News feeds , face book status and blogs - information, data, knights, meeting notes, action items, reorganization information, Nigerian prince property that belongs to you,groupon deals many more things come to you.
You find them.
The only one most folks are scared off and mention a lot in their conversation - emails.
Most folks are afraid to go back to office or come back from vacation (if there is such a concept called vacation) for fear of meeting their Inbox which looks like it ate 5 Cheeseburgers everyday for 30day and became big,fat and ugly!
Technique 1 - GTD - Getting This Done book has a great concept which I implement partially and I strongly recommend you implement fully. I preach what I don't practice.
Look at your emails - one at a time.
Understand if you need to act on them.
If you need to act on it - check if you can do it under 2 minutes. (start a timer on your smart phone or chrome extension) . If not there is a followup folder,drag into calendar and setup a meeting in your calendar and other useful technique.
Technique 2 Never reply to more than 3 emails a day
Emails - if you ration your reply to 3 emails per day it benefits you a lot and the other person also stops. Every action has an equal and reply all email.
Technique 3 Move all emails to another folder and wait!
Yes. Once you move them to another folder people who need stuff from you will ping you ,call you , ask for a meeting or come in person and do everything to reach you. Then you know the priority of things to be done.
Technique 4 from 4 hour work week
Check and respond to email twice a day. Yes. at 11 and 4 pm and inform people that you will following this technique. Provide a phone number and be available to be reached on call in case they want you to reach you.
Being available doesn't have to be through email.
Close your outlook and ask your manager what is expected from you
This technique forces you to ask what you are paid to deliver than to respond to emails.
In any case, every day before you open your email box you must have a plan on what you want to do that day otherwise responding to emails will become your unofficial plan.
Stop checking emails in mobile phones,browsers and in all times. It is not worth it. Email is rude and is a one way communication. An email with more than 10 lines and 1 attachment is a crime against humanity and I do it often!
Keep emailing
Sivakumar Manikanteswaran
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