strategies for email productivity
Post on 17-Oct-2014
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Get Organized Month Presentation by Ellen Delap of www.Professional-Organizer.com courtesy of NAPO Houston January 19, 2012TRANSCRIPT
Get a Life!
Strategies for Email Productivity
Feeling overwhelmed?
How’s your RAM Space?
I need to buy
milk.
Did I email George?
What happened on Glee last night?
Where did I
park my
car?
Do you suffer from Decision Fatigue?
Why ordinarily sensible people get angry at colleagues and families, splurge on clothes, buy junk food at the supermarket and can’t resist the dealer’s offer to rustproof their car.
No matter how rational and high-minded you try to be you can’t make decision after decision without paying a biological price.
- New York Times, John Tierney, August 17, 2011
Email… by the numbers
How many emails do you think the average worker receives in a day?
50? 100? 200? How much does your productivity decrease every
time you multi-task? 20% to 40%
Just think…….
Would you run up and down your driveway 14 times a day to check the mail?
That’s what checking email is!
Geralin Thomas
Metropolitan Organizing
Time to stop the insanity!
Factors For Email Productivity
Where is your weak link? Skills for productivity include:
Complexities? Variables? Lots of research? Decision making
Answering email at 2 am or Dinner? Lots of interruptions? Boundary setting
Repeatedly needing to clarify, share common language? Communication skills
Not sure what to do first, what is most important? Prioritizing
Not enough time to do it all, takes too much time to do? Time management
○ Casey Moore○ Stop Organizing, Start Producing Casey Moore Inc.
Managing E-Mail
Choose Your ToolOutlook is not the only optionMozilla Thunderbird top ratedHotmail easiest to categorizeGmail easiest to integrate with smart phoneSpam filters
Multiple Email AccountsCompartmentalize Personal, Professional, ShoppingProfessional requires professional nameReading Folder or RSS feed (feed reader)
Managing EmailInside the Organizer’s RSS Feed
Managing Email Inside the Organizer’s Email
Managing E-Mail
Make a decisionDeleteDelegateDo itDefer? Not!
Email Guidelines
Expedite communicationPhone vs. Email (Rule of 3, Set a date, Finalize)
Carefully use auto-fill (the Kevins) Unsubscribe Subject lines Replies
No reply necessaryEOM
Smart Phone Email Guidelines
Open safely Open what you can act on asap Only open critical emails Open what you can delegate Consolidate your contacts Connections
“Use it for good, not evil”
E-mail Triage
Establish 3 times to check and triage your email Set one time to “work” your email Defer distractions during your “work” time File your email as you go Color code with Red and ?
Email with Multi-Tasking
THINK: Uni-tasking!Researchers studying the brain and cognitive abilities keep discovering that we need to focus on one task at a time to work effectively.
Men and women lower their IQ by 10 points when they’re asked to do two things at the same time.
Safety! Don’t open your email whilewalking or driving!
E-Mail Tricks For Filing Sort by name, date or subject E-mails you’re keeping
Create file foldersPeriodically purgeDetach attachments and save in
WordKeep it simple sweetieJust take a minute to delete
Email Tricks for FilingSorted by “Sent Date”
Email Tricks for Filing Sorted by “TO”
Ellen’s Top 10 Email Rules
Know your strengths: Monica, Mary, Janice, Jake
Make changes by baby steps (Kaizen) Inbox means ACTION Do It, Delegate it, Delete It Email Triage (3 and 1)
Ellen’s Top 10 Email Rules Power Hour and Email free times Phone instead Subjects and signatures File and delete as you go Simple Subfolders
Processed, Completed, Off my plateParallel your paper files
Email in Productive Perspective
Return on Investment
Ask the Organizer
Ellen Delap
Certified Professional Organizer and
Certified Family Manager Coach
Professional-Organizer.com 281-360-3928 Twitter @ TexasOrganizer Linked in EllenDelap/ProfOrg Facebook EllenDelapProfessionalOrganizer
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