To-Do Lists and E-Mail

At first glance, they may seem unrelated, but To-Do Lists can greatly reduce your inbox clutter. Often times the reason an E-Mail is lingering in your inbox is because there is an action required in order to process it. Instead of leaving it in your inbox, and using the inbox as a de facto to-do list, make a note of the task required by the E-Mail in your to-do list, notebook, planner or whatever you use. The aim is to get the task out of your inbox. Make a reference to the E-Mail if necessary. Then archive the E-Mail and be done with it. This will get rid of a lot of E-Mail in your inbox very quickly. You still have to do the task, but at least it’s now on a legitimate to-do list and not keeping your inbox full.

E-Mail and Efficiency

E-Mail is a vital communication tool today. However, there is a possibility of spending too much time on E-Mail, thus reducing your work efficiency. Here is a tip to identify if you are spending too much time on E-Mail: First of all, maintain an E-Mail log, and record how frequently you check E-Mail.You can do this with a sheet of paper. Do it for about per week, and see how much time you are spending on E-Mail. Measure it against the average E-Mail received in your Inbox. If you are checking your E-Mail so often that you do not receive any new E-Mail till your third or fourth check, you are certainly wasting too much time. Try a pattern for checking E-Mail based on any pattern you can find in new E-Mails reaching your Inbox. If you discover that you receive most new E-Mails during lunchtime or just before closing time, alter your pattern accordingly. You will find yourself improving on efficiency automatically in a very short time!

Dr. E-Mail Wishes You A Happy New Year

E-Mails that are saved for reference to NOT belong in your Inbox. Create E-Mail folders for different references or sources and move these E-Mails to the relevant folder. The objective is to have no more than one page to scroll. If your in box is becoming bulkier by the day, you will soon find yourself lost in a sea of information and you will find it more difficult to prioritize what needs to get done.

Remember: Do not have more than one or two pages of E-Mails in your Inbox.

Use a Meaningful Subject Line

A meaningful subject line is an important prerequisite of any E-Mail. The recipient most likely has many E-Mails in his Inbox. He or she is going to scan the Subject line quickly to narrow down the list of E-Mails on which to take action or read. If you do not have a meaningful Subject line, the recipient may not read it or worse, may even trash it without reading.

Take a moment to see whether the Subject line conveys the essence of what is in the actual E-Mail body before hitting that "Send" button.