4 Simple Tips To Prevent Email Overload

Do you spend half your working day answering emails rather than working on building your online business?

I know I certainly do at times. Not only can answering email be incredibly time-sapping, but a new email in your inbox can be a seductive beast too…like an unopened Christmas present just waiting to be unwrapped.

Manage Your Email More Efficiently

Well recently I’ve taken a few important steps to handle my email more efficiently. Some of them are the suggestions of Tim Ferriss’ eye-opening book, the ‘Four Hour Work Week’ , which you can read about at his eponymously titled blog.

So here’s what I’m doing to reduce the time spent answering emails…

1. Stopped checking my email as soon as I switch on the PC in the morning. Instead I now just check it twice daily at noon and 4pm GMT.  I also notify people in my email signature that I’m doing this.
2. Turned off the auto send/receive so I’m not constantly distracted by new messages in my inbox.
3. Installed Frank Haywood’s Ticket Desk Pro script on my new Customer Support Desk.  Whilst it sends automated notification messages whenever I reply to a support ticket, I know that even if it goes into the customer’s spam or junk email folder by error, the customer can still read my reply by opening up the ticket.  Not having to spend time locating email messages I’ve already sent customers will be a massive time saver as my customer base grows.
4. Unsubscribed from those newsletters, ezines and blog mailing lists I’m no longer reading.  I’m still subscribed to far too many. But atleast I’ve made a start in the right direction.  A work in progress.

Improve Your Productivity

Why not give these suggestions a try yourself. Particularly numbers 1 and 2. I won’t lie…doing email cold turkey hasn’t been easy! I’ve had some lapses along the way. But overall, I’ve noticed a big improvement in my productivity since implementing them.

Why not try it for a week and see what difference it makes to your business? And let me know if you’ve got any other suggestions for managing the inbox by posting a comment below.