Let’s start with some frightening email statistics. On average, office
workers receive at least 200 messages a day and spend about
two-and-a-half hours reading and replying to emails. That’s a lot of
time spent staring at a screen, a lot of it unproductive. It’s a tricky
cycle to break as receiving emails releases dopamine, a feel-good
chemical in our brain. We feel a small reward when we get an email,
which keeps us locked into the email cycle and addicted to its grip.
However, it comes at a cost. Email is a constant distraction that
prevents us from engaging in proper, meaningful thinking. Lightening
your email load allows you to get stuck into important work, rather than
just managing minutiae. Here are some quick tips for breaking your
email addiction.
Define Your Email Style
Some people write a little, some write a lot. Some write in
text-speak, others in essays, some are formal and some are casual. And
when you work with people with different styles to yours, tensions arise
unless your style and expectations are properly communicated. When
working with a project team, tell them up front how you operate on the
email waves and have them do the same. Before I start any project, I
like to tell my team that I like my emails like I like my dentist
visits: short, to the point and only when necessary.
Create Email-Free Zones
On average, we check emails 15 times a day. Stop the incessant
interruptions by setting just two email windows a day; one in the
morning and one in the afternoon. Use only these times to read and reply
to your messages. At all other times, turn off your email
notifications, even on your phone. If you need to, add to your signature
that you will be available by phone, in case people desperately need to
reach you. A simple “I’m trying to email less, and work more. Call me
if you need me” will work well.
Read Them Once
A lot of people make the mistake of reading an email and not replying
instantly. If you read it once; and then come back to reply – you end
up reading the email again. Over the course of a week, this ends up
being a lot of time wasted re-reading emails. Read it once. Reply on the
spot. And move on.
Call Me, Baby!
On average, we write 40 emails a day. Avoid the email Ping-Pong and
take time to consider the best medium for the message that you are
trying to convey. You can call someone, meet them, text them, leave them
a note, send a video message, or even …wait for it … draw them a
picture! That might sound like a stretch, but email is impersonal, and
when you convey your message through more thoughtful means, it sticks.
Not to mention, you will heighten trust levels and find that you will
need to email less anyway.
Stop the BCC Madness
CC and BBC wastes a lot of time: 144 out of the 200 emails an office
worker receives each day are irrelevant to them. Copying in copious
colleagues is often a precautionary measure for bosses to check in on
their juniors, and for people to feel show that they are "busy working."
Sit with either your superiors or subordinates and create a new system
for checking in with each other. This could be a weekly summary or
involve just copying superiors in on the last email on a chain. However,
try to make it a more meaningful interaction, like a walking meeting,
or a weekly breakfast. If you can heighten trust between your team,
email naturally will reduce.
Innovator’s Challenge:
Aim to halve the amount of time you spend on email. Create a
reduction plan based on the suggestions above and pilot it for a week.
Note down how you feel before and after, especially what felt like it
made you more productive. Next, consider what it will take to make this
pilot become your new reality and how you might roll it out to your
team.
Forbes
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