Are You Suffering From Email Overload?

I go back and forth whether or not to eliminate email from my phone. It’s a distraction from family and rest, but a necessary form of communication. Where do you fall?

No matter the decision it’s important to set rules around your email use. If you don’t you’ll find yourself struggling to get any REAL work done. To be more productive with your inbox start:

PUTTING IT IN YOUR SCHEDULE

The goal is to go from being reactive to proactive. Instead of leaving your email open throughout the day allot a few minutes in your schedule to tackle the inbox.

Set a firm start and stop time. It will force you to focus on answering each email. When time runs out, move on to your next task, the email will be there tomorrow.

TACKLING IT WITH A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Instead of tackling your email in a time line fashion sort it by name or category. Tackle those emails from people you need to respond to first (i.e. your pastor). 

If there are emails that haven’t been answered for weeks (literally), just delete it and get as close to zero as possible.

For more tips read this awesome post from Michael Hyatt: Declare Email Bankruptcy And Get A Fresh Start

UTILIZING THIRD PARTY SYSTEMS

I use Mailchimp.com for both Marathon Youth Ministry and my youth ministry job at St. Joseph Parish. What I like about using it is the fact that I can:

• Create templates that are attractive.
• Track opens, clicks and activity.
• Write and schedule emails ahead of time.

There are other third party systems with similar features, but the reason I like Mailchimp the most is because of it’s integration capabilities.

Bottom line, a third party system can give you some margin because you can write your emails ahead of time and track who is reading them. It will give you the data you need to communicate effectively.

To learn more about MailChimp click:Powered by MailChimp

CLARIFYING YOUR COMMUNICATION PREFERENCES

We all communicate differently and that’s okay, we just need to make sure our preferences are clear. Let friends, coworkers and your family know when you check email.

There are times when I want to be cut off from technology, especially on the weekends. That’s when I tell coworkers to call me if they need my immediate attention.

By setting boundaries and clarifying preferences of communication people will reconsider what’s urgent and what can wait. They’ll learn how to communicate better with you.

It’s also important that we abide by our guidelines. Anytime you start making too many exceptions the boundaries get blurred and they are much harder to get back.

Email is not evil, it’s simply a tool that needs to be used wisely. Like anything else set boundaries so that you don’t find yourself lost in your inbox.

If you are looking to be more productive, but can’t figure out how, start with this incredible productivity assessment from Michael Hyatt. It’s given me more clarity.

Take the free productivity assessment HERE