With so much of your life spent on the internet, an organized inbox isn’t just a matter of being tidy — it’s about being productive and focusing your attention on tasks that really matter.
The average office worker receives around 121 emails and sends 40 each day, leading to unnecessary distractions and dips in concentration. It can take more than 23 minutes to reorient yourself after reading and responding to an email.
Check your inbox at scheduled times
We all experience pressure to respond to emails quickly. However, reading emails immediately after they arrive in your inbox can dramatically lower your productivity and interrupt your concentration on key tasks.
Instead, you can block out certain times of the day to check your inbox. The amount of time required for reading and responding to emails depends on how frequently you want to go through your inbox and how many emails you typically receive. Carving out blocks of time to check your inbox not only adds structure to your day but also limits the amount of time you spend reading emails.
Respond to emails in batches
Every time you switch between tasks, it takes a little while to regain your bearings. Repetitive tasks, like reading and responding to email, are most efficiently handled in batches.
Email batching is the practice of grouping emails together and responding to them in a single session. It enables you to read, process, and reply to emails only two or three times a day, decreasing context switches and minimizing exposure to distractions in your inbox. You can also create template responses for messages you need to send consistently, allowing you to get more done in less time.
If you want to email a group of people, create a contact group. Rather than adding email addresses individually, contact groups allow you to reach multiple recipients and send the same email to them without extra work.
I hope these tips can help you get back on top of your email flow. If you apply them, give me feedback in the comments. If you have others, please share them!