Email Habits of Very Productive People
Ping! Check email. Ping. Check email again. Ping. Check. Ping. Check.
— -- intro: Ping! Check email. Ping. Check email again. Ping. Check. Ping. Check. Ping. Check.
If you’re like most people who sit in front of a computer all day, this probably sounds like you: When you’re not currently replying to an email, you’re looking to see if you have any new ones. Then when something new does come in, you read it, debate how to respond, then deem it too time-consuming for the moment. “I’ll get to that later,” you think. And if there’s nothing new, you’re nervously wondering why. “Is it because my inbox is full?!” So you keep checking back every 15 seconds until something pops up - in the meantime deleting all the junk mail that has since clogged your inbox.
10 Ways to Lead a More Balanced Life
But a life tethered to your email means those other projects you want and need to do — be they big reports or personal tasks — can get postponed by days, weeks, or months. Not to mention, a new Canadian study found hyper-checking your email can make you (surprise!) more stressed. So we asked five people who have a barrage of emails to answer to tell us how they tame their inbox.
Read on for their strategies to deal with the deep, dark email crevasse.
quicklist: 1category: Email Habits of Very Productive Peopletitle: Set designated “reply times”url:text:“I do many quick checks of email throughout the day to see if there’s something high priority and urgent that has come in, but I only allocate two times a day to fully deal with the email that has accumulated. By batching all of the heavy duty email processing into bigger chunks, I can be much more efficient and reduce the feeling of constantly switching tasks.”—Jacob Bank, computer scientist and co-founder and CEO of the Timeful calendar app
Pick and choose what’s key“I respond to priorities as soon as possible, and keep correspondence clear and super positive. Knowing that I’ll still never get through all the emails, I prioritize people who are asking for help and opportunities that support my intention. I’m also not afraid to use the “!” for high priorities or dramatic effect.”—Tara Stiles, yoga instructor, author of the Make Your Own Rules Diet ($25, amazon.com), and W Hotels’ fitness partner
quicklist: 2category: Email Habits of Very Productive Peopletitle: Email only the quick thingsurl:text:“Email works for quick day-to-day correspondence, but when I have something important to discuss or decisions to be made, I pick up the phone. It is always better to hear the person on the other end—the inflection in their voice. Emails can often be misunderstood.”—Bobbi Brown, makeup artist and Health‘s contributing beauty and lifestyle editor
