Conquering the Email Battle!

If you feel overwhelmed by your email, you are not alone!

95.2 GB  

Space to store my email 

28% 

Time in the workweek spent handling email.  (1)

$10,000.00

Cost of an average worker per year due to email distractions. (2) 

38%

The percentage of emails that are "important".  (3)

Email overload is a real problem, both in the business world and in Education.  The costs above are a little astonishing.  This research highlights the real cost of interrupting your concentration to check your email, impairing your decision making and leading to stress.  Many studies suggest that once interrupted, it is difficult to immediately return to the task you were working on, and some conclude that you can lose up to 40% of your productivity. (4) 

The good news is that efficiency experts are suggesting strategies to overcome email overload.   The strategies are based both on 'habit of mind' and effective use of technology tools available! 

1.  Check your email at set times of the day a few times per day. 

This may shock a few of you, but if you think about it, most of our emails don't require immediate responses.  By checking your email at planned times throughout the day, you are responsive but at the same time remain focused on the work you need to accomplish.  Gmail add-ons like Sort'd and Boomerang allow you to actually pause your inbox during times you don't want to check your email! 

2.  Check your email for a set period of time.  

If you are going to check your email only a few times per day,  you also need to limit the time you spend answering your email as well.  Many experts suggest 25 minutes per session.  You will need strategies to ensure that you get through your emails.

3.  Have an efficient Strategy for clearing your inbox.

Most efficiency experts suggest: 

1.  If you can read & respond to an email in 1 to 5 minutes (depending upon the source), respond and do it!

2.  If you are copied on an email, consider either reading it quickly or adding a label (looks like putting in a folder in Gmail!) to read later.  Often, emails sent to you as a copy are informational only.

3.  If an email requires a thoughtful response or is sensitive in nature, you may not have the time to provide the attention that it deserves.  Both Sort'd (add it by clicking your Gmail cog>get add ons) and Boomerang provide you the option to 'Snooze' or set a time for the email to return to your inbox! 

4.  Consider using Sort'd (add it by clicking your Gmail cog>get add ons).  Sort'd is a rich add-on allowing you to easily move emails to personal boards you define - like 'Read Later' or 'Q5 Course Info'. 

5.  Try to clear your email inbox at the end of the day!

4.  Use tools to keep unimportant items out of your inbox.

There are a plethora of tools to help unimportant items never reach your inbox:

1.  Gmail Priority inbox is part of your Gmail settings.  (Cog>Settings>Inbox).  With it, your mail is automatically partitioned into these categories:

I love this mailbox because my important and unread emails appear at the top.  It is easy to quickly clear out my Unread emails that are less important when I have time!  Google's algorithms observe your activity to determine if an email is important.  You control if you disagree!

2.  Use Filters (Cog>Settings>Filters) to direct emails to folders (labels) you can access when you have time.  Many of us have set up filters for CCHS News and CCHS Student News so those emails don't appear in our inbox.  If you can search for emails with like conditions (from a specific email address, a specific subject line), you can create a filter!

5.  Use the Unsubscribe button- alot!

Save time in the long run by finding the unsubscribe button for newsletters and email lists you no longer find useful!  Or, use a different email account when subscribing so your school inbox doesn't get cluttered.  

6.  Eliminate your notifications or Pause your inbox.  

Now that you plan your email reading time, you want to address the bings and beeps that alert you to new emails, and that distract your brain and keep you from working on what you need to.  Research has shown that these alerts are designed to make you feel you need to check it urgently, putting your brain in 'distraction' mode!  Turn off notifications on all your devices...be brave and don't leave your Gmail app open unless it is time to answer your emails!  (If you aren't brave, I am one of you!)

Research also shows that people in managerial positions (in Education our Admin team and Department Chairs) are completely inundated with an overwhelming amount of email.  Turning off their notifications permanently isn't really an option.  Using Boomerang to 'Pause' your inbox means you won't hear the notifications and be distracted!

A few other good practices to consider:

Schedule your responses to send at the end of the day!  Using Boomerang, schedule your responses at the end of the day, when recipients won't necessarily expect an immediate reply.  It also can alleviate an email thread discussion where you spend way too much time immediately responding multiple times to the thread!

Trying to coordinate a meeting time?  Use a Doodle Poll!  This is one of my favorite tools for arranging a meeting time - it is very quick to create, easy to participate, and you can see exactly when people are free!  I don't use it as much for school, but it is great for coordinating family events, book group meetings, etc!

Talk to your phone or computer!   Even the fastest keyboarders can talk faster than they can type!  Within the Gmail phone app, turn on your microphone by clicking on the little microphone on the keyboard to activate it.  Or, use some of the available extensions or native Mac options. (This option courtesy of Matt Miller, Ditch That TextBook.)

Interested in more hands on help and earning PDP's?  Check out the soon to be released Take Control of your Gmail sessions schedule now through the end of the year!

1.  Email Overload is Costing you Billions
2.  Is Email Overload Killing your Productivity?
3.  Email Overload Research & Statistics
4.  7 Step Guide to Achieving Inbox Zero and Staying There in 2018