subject: Save Time, Streamline Your Email [print this page] Save Time, Streamline Your Email Save Time, Streamline Your Email
While it is an excellent form of communication it can also be a huge drain on productivity. Many of my clients report spending four hours or more on email each day! Here are five simple ways you can streamline your email and save yourself some time.
1. Keep your emails short. Try to keep your email to five sentences or less. At five sentences, a person is more likely to read your email fully. People tend to skim longer emails, or stop reading them all together. Think about what you are trying to convey and boil it down to five sentences or less.
2. Organize your thoughts. In the fast paced world, email is often casual and haphazard. It is very important to organize your thoughts before you communicate with someone to avoid misunderstandings.
3. Make key points stand out. Highlight, bold or underline important ideas and dates. If someone is skimming your email, you want their eye drawn to the important information. If there are multiple points, use bullet points.
4. Send clear requests. Be clear about what you are requesting from the person. Often times I receive emails full of information with no clear request. What is it that you want me to do? Read and respond, make corrections, approve? If the recipient is unclear about what you want, they will often do nothing. Clearly define what you need from the person. Make the request easy to see by putting it in the first line of the email or bolding it.
5. Create templates. Is there an email that you send out regularly? Why not make an email template? In programs such as Outlook, you can create a custom template in the time it takes you to "save as". Templates are great for mobile devices as well. Save a few commonly sent phrases or paragraphs and save yourself some time.
Did you know that inefficient use of email can waste up to two hours per day? Now, multiply that by the number of people in your organization. Optimum Productivity offers an Email Package that can make you more efficient and productive.
We also offer a variety of webinars that show you how to use email more effectively. View our webinar schedule.
About: Erin Hoffman is a Productivity Specialist and the president of Optimum Productivity. She helps busy professionals and businesses save hours each week by showing them cost saving time and email strategies.
