Send Some Emails
Are you Team Johnny or Team Amber?
Oh who am I kidding, we are all on team Mega Pint. And that is exactly what I will need if I take a day of vacation and forget my laptop or company phone.
Because let’s be honest – there is no way I (or anyone) can read AND absorb all of the information waiting for you upon your return.
Realistically, most of us don’t even need a day off to fall behind and have our email inbox to pile up to ridiculous levels.
Policy change? Send an email. Hamster escape? Send an email. Need to detail out the 75 changes in the SOP (standard operating procedure) to stay FDA compliant? Send an email.
And don’t worry, everyone reads all of their emails. From top to bottom. I pinky promise.
I’m sure there won’t be anything missed and everyone is up to speed on all the changes you sent out. And this is where things start to break down (along with my sanity).
The Digital Age Sucks (the life out of you)!
On a daily basis. With no end in sight. Okay, who is ready to go to work today! YEA! Wait, where did everybody go? Happy Monday to you all!
I always wonder how they worked back in the day without email. How amazing would it be not to be tied down to be able to do work 24/7?
And by the way, do you think the secretaries had to type the number of memos (to substitute emails) we see on a daily basis? Maybe they just had actual IRL (in real life) interactions. Like in-person meetings, business lunches, and land-line phone calls.
But really, I do distinctly remember the Mad Men TV show and how they depict that workplace. Unfortunately, I can’t say I’ve ever seen one of my bosses’ offices loaded with alcohol or even a couch for that matter. (But as my kids get older, I can now appreciate the need for both of these at a place of work.)
So given the massive amounts of emails and information, we go through on a daily basis, I actually think we should petition to bring most of it back. It seems like a logical option to get rid of the stress. Who wants to sign up for the cause?
The Recent Influx
I don’t know about you, but I swear the number of automated emails, spam, and general business emails I’ve gotten on a daily basis has exponentially exploded to a point where I can’t even keep up anymore. And let’s be real, I know I’m just not that popular. I’m just going to blame it on Covid, because why not?
That still brings me to my problem – how in the hell do I keep up with this influx? My normal strategies aren’t keeping me up to speed.
Let’s Brainstorm…
Actually, I got nothing. I’ve scoured the web and everything I’ve read I’ve already implemented in some way, shape, or form.
I even checked out this Forbes article, but the number one tip was to ‘stay organized.’ No sh*t sherlock. Give me something out of the box instead of the obvious.
That said, here are the top #protips I’ve seen for email management that are status quo –
- Block or schedule 15-20 minutes at the beginning/end of the day to focus on them. Duh.
- Turn off notifications (visual/other). I don’t know what year I learned this, but I haven’t turned them on ever since. Saves my sanity.
- Organize and use ‘rules’ to sort into folders. Done and overdone.
- 80/20 rule for important vs. all others – I live my life by the 80/20 rule.
- Use the delete button. It’s literally my BFF, my bestie.
- Unsubscribe to newsletters, etc. Not sure how I can unsubscribe to my coworkers or business partners, but, I will give it a go.
- Flag emails. This is my to-do list, typically works like a charm if there aren’t more than 50 of them.
- Use tools/analytics. As much as I appreciate the generated emails about how much meeting time I have, or what emails I need to reply to sent to me on a daily basis – it stresses me out. Wish I could unsubscribe to these.
- Sort by person, and prioritize by importance. If didn’t already do this, I wouldn’t know who to save all my daily eye-rolling for. Might just strain a cornea.
- Use templates. I’m not quite sure my company would appreciate my ‘colorful’ language saved as a template.
If you have any unique methods (besides changing your name or job) or ways to handle a crazy inbox – email me. Oh wait, don’t do that, send me a text or IM. This way I can be distracted from my email and not have to worry about it anymore!
Check out other Ms. Categorymanagement posts on Emails:
