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Dear Blackberry users – isn’t it time to assess your email addiction? Email addiction is a major cause of email overload. Are you feeling stressed out by the lack of your instant quick fix of emails? Feeling you can no longer function properly and worse still do business (as some people are reporting). This is all nonsense.
This Blackberry outage should be a wake-up call for us all to reassess just how addicted we have become to email, because we can all survive without constant instant access to our email 24x7x365. We would probably be significantly more productive. We just like to think its macho and makes us look important to be attached by the Blackberry (or iphone) umbilical cord to our email.
The lack of constant interruptions from the Blackberry buzz could have many positive effects such as reigniting our strategic thinking and improving meetings as people stop multi-tasking. We could start to review some processes which have developed through our email addiction rather than as a result of thinking through what is best for the business.
To check just how addicted you and your business have become use our Email Addiction benchmarking tool. Click here to download it. For a ten point plan to cure it see January 31st – Email addiction ways to cure it and February 2nd – Email addiction – more tips and hints.
Whatever you do, just make sure you seize the moment to re-evaluate your life-work balance and how you can actually be more productive by freeing yourself from the the Blackberry umbilical cord.
Tags: email addiction, email overload
Email chains are a major cause of email overload. You know the symptoms:
Then there is the corollary – people who feel left out and feel they should be included. Take a look and see what percentage of the emails in your inbox relate to a thread/chain? How many of the iterations do you really need? Probably less then 25%. Little wonder email overload is on the increase.
Email chains seem to be the bane of most people’s life at the inbox. There are several ways to manage these more successfully which range from personal email management techniques to better use of the software. Here are the top three, some of which were in our October 2011 ‘ebriefing’ on tips to help you overcome email overload and use brilliant email etiquette to save time.
The key is to stop the email chain once it gets out of hand and re-assess just what you are trying to achieve and who really needs to make an input.
During the week there will be more tips on managing email chains.
Tags: email best practice, email chains, email overload
Managing Email Overload and using brilliant email etiquette can save you up to one hour a day. We have posted many blogs about how to reclaim this extra hour. Last week we spoke and exhibited at the very successful Office* 2011. Attendance was up by 18% on the inaugural show last year.
We asked visitors to our stand and participants at our Brilliant Email Master Classs what they would do with an extra hour a day. Here are the top five responses;
1. Sleep
2. Go to the gym
3. Pamper myself (eg have a manicure)
4. Go home early
5. Meet friends for coffee
In this current era of self-indulgence and me, me, me there was one respone which was top of our list. It was ‘I’d like to dedicate it to me time, but rather than take, I would give back (my time) to charity.’ We all have different pressures on us and perhaps not all of us has that extra, extra time to give back.
However, whatever your choice it is clear that if we could all spend a little less time chained to our inbox by managing the email overload a little better we could lead slightly healthier lives.
My thanks to everyone who participated in this survey. What would you do with a spare hour a day?
Tags: email best practice, email etiquette, email overload
How often do you feel people leave you sufficient time to respond to an email? Results from client projects suggest nearly half of us feel that people do not leave sufficient time to respond properly.
To participate in the full survey with a chance to win a free copy of ‘Brilliant Email’ – click on this link ‘Time to Respond’ survey.
Not being left suffient time to respond can be quite challenging especially when a substantive response is needed which requires thought and perhaps some background research. Why do we leave other people so little time to respond? Is it:
Whatever the reason, unreasonable expectations up the email stress on the person of whom we ask for a quick response. Further the pressure to responde often results in costly mistakes. For example, we admit to errors, give wrong facts, commit to deadlines and tasks which are not achievable etc.
What can be done to change the culture and make time for people to give an adequate reliable response? First and foremost, ask yourself how long it would take you to respond. Now double it (as we always over estimate our personal abilities) and that is the time you need to allow the other person to respond. That is good email etiquette.
Second as the recipient, to take the heat out of the situation, decide how quickly you can respond and if it is not within a working day, tell the sender. Tell them when you will respond. Don’t ask if it’s OK. You decide and set the time frame. Again use good email etiquette to manage the situation.
Third as a sender check people availablity beforehand and agree what is a reasonable response time.
For more tips and hints on ways to leave time for the recipient and as the recipient take the pressure off you to respond, follow me on Twitter.
Meanwhile what are your favourite tips on how to reduce the email overload and email stress created by those who expect an instant response?
Tags: email best practice, email etiquette, email overload, email stress
Getting people to respond to urgent emails can be difficult. Why? Last week Stewart Hirsh of the Trusted Advisor posted a thought provoking post on why do people not respond to emails – Action Required: Read my email please!
Thought I’d would share the five tips I posted in response.
1. In the subject-line add the words ‘Action needed by (eg Noon 28 August 2011).
2. Create an image of yourself as a trusted person so that when the recipient sees an email from you they know it serious and needs attention. That means avoiding sending frivolous emails like jokes etc.
3. Many people don’t open emails from PAs. Sad I know, but in the UK this happens. If you do use a PA/Assistant, make sure even if they prepare the email, that it comes from your mailbox.
4. Call then a few days/hours latter (depending on the urgency).
5. Give up conventional emailing and either resort to the phone only or use social media if they are on it eg LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter. Interestingly some people will ignore ordinary email but respond to messages sent via social media.
What are your tips?
Tags: email etiquette, email overload