Statistically speaking, on average professionals receive above 100 emails every day! However insignificant of an issue this may seem when you get so many emails most of which are very important, every day, you understand how difficult it is to actually handle these emails. Going through them and very precisely, not missing anything in the emails becomes a daunting but unavoidable task as missing out on the information that these emails contain can do a lot of harm to your work.
So how do we combat this problem? Well, keeping the inbox more organized can help a lot to handle the emails. To successfully manage emails and keep things under control and organized, you need to strategize because it not only helps you keep track of things but also saves a lot of time. Skimming through emails can take up a massive part of our work time but the inherent desire to keep checking your emails is also a pretty real issue.
Emails are a very huge and almost the main medium of communication in the professional world and thus are pretty unavoidable. So, here are some very best practices that will help you manage your emails and make your life easier.
Delete sales promotion mails
It's critical to prioritize and delete undesirable messages before you can effectively manage your inbox. Sales promotions should be the first to disappear, and moving them onto the Promotional tab is ineffective. The goal is to have a well-organized inbox that only contains material that is relevant to your professional objectives. Sales communications, in most situations, are distracting and divert your focus away from your commitments.
Let the things go that don’t add value; unsubscribe
Unsubscribe from emails you haven't read in a long time. If you're a regular newsletter recipient, this is yet another way to organize your inbox. You might be tempted to construct labels and filters to sort them for you, but let's keep that strategy for emails that bring value to your personal and working development.
If you haven't reviewed the last two installments of that newsletter, you're probably not getting anything out of it, so unsubscribe. If you can't stomach the thought of unsubscribing, most newsletters will let you reduce the number of times they send you emails.
Request to be removed from any group communications that aren't relevant to you
You may have joined numerous organizations that applied to you at the time, similar to newsletters. Examine the value they're offering and whether or not it's relevant to your present values and objectives. Emails from personal connections with odd themes or just removing oneself from those horribly long "send all" threads are examples of group communications. Since you can't easily "unsubscribe" or "block" your friends and coworkers, a little politeness will go a long way. Gmail has a "mute" option, though you'll have to make your intentions clear to everybody else.
A short note that lets them know that you’re no longer relevant to the discussion allows you to make smoother exits and get a step closer to effectively managed email strategies.
Make labels for emails that are similar in nature.
Now that you've gotten rid of the unnecessary emails, it's time to organize the ones you want, and labels are a wonderful method to accomplish so.
Inside your inbox, labels may be used to build a custom folder organization. You may name them after a category, a customer, a project, or anything else you choose. This level of granularity in your inbox organization provides a system where your interactions have a designated location, making them easier to locate and handle.
Set aside time for reading and responding to emails
Constantly checking your mailbox might become an ineffective time management habit.
Setting aside a planned time to handle your emails leads to more effective email management, and it's ideal to do it on a daily basis. This lets you fix a scheduled time in your day to check your emails, allowing you to focus on other activities without the continuous nagging sensation that you should be checking them.
Unless anything very important comes in, you should avoid hopping in and out of your email once you've handled your inbox for the day. Even so, you may set up systems to label emails that you won't be able to react to right away as unread.
Flagging emails
Snooze emails or have them return back to the top of your mailbox at a subsequent date with email management software. A strong flagging system with filters will guarantee that nothing is overlooked while allowing you to reply to your receivers efficiently.
Even critical emails can't always be answered right away, but there are certain best practices to follow when it comes to anticipated responsiveness.
24-48 hours response time
Working-related emails should, in general, be responded to on the same business day. According to studies, failing to respond to an email within 48 hours results in the loss of potential consumers as well as their discontent.
Email management software might help here as well. At the absolute least, you may set up email campaigns to notify your recipient that they have received your attention and that a more thorough answer will be forthcoming in 3-5 business days. Such email campaigns can be effectively made with the help of email marketing and management tools like email analytics tools that provide you with data about your email activities; for example, how many emails you receive and how many you send out to make sure that your email campaigns are a success.
3-5 business days follow up rule
We all have a lot on our plates, including a lot of different responsibilities and a lot of daily emails, but it's critical to prioritize emails that can't wait. Whether you're waiting for a response from a recruiter, confirmation from an external stakeholder, or a decision from a client, a follow-up email should be sent within 3-5 business days.
There may be occasions when a few follow-ups are required. Don't forget to leave a day or two between every follow-up email to prevent coming out as panicky.
Invest in Email Management tools
To make things more professional and easier for you simultaneously, it is very important for you to invest in good email management tools. These tools can be anything ranging from software that helps give you email analytics for better campaigns, auto-scheduling software that schedules your email responses or even emails correspondence mobile apps for sending emails from wherever you are at any point in time.
Conclusion:
Managing your email well can help you become more productive in general. Even though managing emails looks like a pretty tiresome and complex task, it is safe to say that you are on your way to conquering and befriending your inbox with the aid of the email management strategies described in this article combined with the right kind of tools!
