Tech Tuesday: how to handle email overload

The thing about Tuesdays is that it comes every 7 days. Same thing with Sundays. And, when it comes to email, it comes every day, all the time, 24/7.

So, this week's feature question is this:

How do you handle email overload?

I used to think I could handle it, but who am I kidding. Here are some of the things I do in my Microsoft Outlook:

• setting Outlook to check email less than 4 times an hour, and turn off email pop-up alerts & beeps
• reading emails only once and act on it: file it into a folder for info to keep, reply to it, or flag it for later response or action
• flagging an email with an "Add reminder" and enter a "Due by" date/time when I want to respond later and don't want to forget it

I know there are other great tips, like Merlin Mann's Inbox Zero 1-hour video presentation. (Merlin is a productivity guru and founder of 43 Folders blog.)

There are even books written on this subject, like The Hamster Revolution: How to Manage Your Email Before It Manages You (Mike Song, Vicki Halsey, Tim Burress) and Surviving Information Overload: The Clear, Practical Guide to Help You Stay on Top of What You Need to Know (Kevin A. Miller).

Add a comment below. And, to have your tech question featured in a future Tech Tuesday, email them in to me anytime.

-- DJ Chuang, Director of Digital Initiatives & more, Leadership Network

Comments

[Tim Morgan]

I read somewhere last week that on average, for every email sent, 1.75 - 2 emails are generated in return. In our attempts to try to "catch up" with email, we actually cause more work for ourselves.

I've felt this all along: you should cut down on email you send. If a quick phone call or IM or SMS text will do, then do it instead.

I also read about one department that instituted a rule: if a conversation generates more than 4 emails, you must pick up the phone or meet in person to resolve the issue.

[Stephanie]

I use the system outlined in Total Workday Control by Michael Linenberger and recommend it to anyone who will listen!

http://www.amazon.com/Total-Workday-Control-Microsoft-Outlook/dp/0974930415