How do you tackle your work emails

[thisdayistoolong]

I think there's probably groups of people that deal with their work emails differently.

AIBU to ask how you deal with yours?

I'm all over the place and will rarely start with the oldest as I get distracted by all the shiny new emails from the day before.

I'll select one and start dealing with it when all of a sudden, yet another email pops up. It's nice and quick so I'll just do that then get back to the other email.

But then I notice another email that is a quick one so do that. Then another and another distraction before finally completing that first email an hour later.

This feels so unproductive even though I'm actually trying to be more productive.

How do you approach your emails?

Would love to hear some good ideas to help me but also please don't say I'm the only one that is a bit scatty in their approach??!!

I start with the oldest
I keep them in my inbox when they need my action or they’re waiting for something
I have a dealt with folder once I’ve done it,
I move it out of the inbox

I wish I was you!!

With Teams calls / messages, meetings, loo breaks, making coffee, staring out the window I just can't seem to keep my focus!

Depends on your job really. I have emails that are more urgent than others so always look out for the key words and do them first.

Depends on my mood, and the time of day.

I'm not a morning person, so first thing I try to rattle off a good group of simple emails while I wake up properly. Then spend an hour or two on meetings or "actual work" before tackling at least one beasty email before lunch. Having to finish it before lunch keeps me focused! (Some of my big emails take take an hour to reply to though due to detail required).

I also have a rule that every email I open properly I have to answer that day. So I can click on them and preview them and mark them unread again, bit if I double click and put it into a new window it has to be dealt with.

The afternoon depends more on my mood and calendar. When I'm feeling like cracking on (usually more so atvthe beginning of the week), I use my window technique to select a few involved emails straight after lunch that are my focus for the afternoon. The number depends on the size of the work required for each and what my calendar looks like.

It's not an ideal strategy, but works well enough for me and I prefer it to something structured that ignores my mood/feelings.

Select all
Mark as read

Schedule time to reply to emails. Don't just reply as soon as you get one.

Flag emails for future action with a date & time for a reminder.

Periodically sort your emails by filtering by 'flagged emails' and do a batch at a time.

Structure your work around key tasks - as you are working on those tasks, answer relevant emails to those tasks.

My email inbox is my list of things to do. I have folders for all the subjects of the dealt with ones and only leave the ones I need to action in the inbox. I'm very OCD with it and get quite stressed out if I come out of a meeting with 20 emails to deal with! It makes holidays almost impossible. I wouldn't use my situation as one to copy in the slightest. I envy people who don't let email run their life.

I glance and then archive them all.

Can you tell I am not very motivated?

I changed jobs such a lovely feeling starting from 0 in my inbox

I start with the newest because the majority of the time is is a quote request that has something added from the older email below

I skim read them all from oldest to newest, reply to those which are very quick to deal with and flag up the others to come back to. That way I have cleared out a bunch of emails and have a sense of what the remaining ones are about, so can then prioritise the to return to and deal with.

@PinkPlantCase

I changed jobs such a lovely feeling starting from 0 in my inbox

It doesn't last long I tell you I've only been here 3 months and I want to leave

With the delete button.

I keep ones that i still need to action as unread
I check my emails periodically through the day between meetings
I start with newest in as could be an update from an older one. I group them into conversations so all emails in a chain show as one stream instead of being disjointed through the mailbox.

I answer straight away even if its a holding email such as "yes good idea ill look into this next week" and then add to my to do list which my current system is booking out a time in my calander to do and not a paper to do list
This works for me, i currently have 9 emails unread and can select the unread tab to see what I still need to action so keeps me quite organised

I’m like you! But the way I make sure nothing gets missed is by flagging the email and then half an hour before I finish for the day search my inbox for flagged emails only. That way I can clear it out without having to remember what needs replying to! So I can deal with urgent ones as and when and less urgent at the end of the day

I go through them at the start of each day and flag the ones that need some action from me.

These usually sit in my "to do" list until I get an email chasing up the first, then I'll think about trying to do them.

I've learnt over the years that it's pointless trying to keep on top of emails and do what's required promptly. So many times I've done the work the email requested, only to find it was no longer needed or they want something else as well. It's best to leave things to stew for a few days, often people think about their request and come back with a revised on.

Also it's good practice to delay your response because if people think you will respond to them immediately it encourages them to be lazy. "Why spend 10 minutes finding the information myself when that woman can do it for me?" That kind of thing. A slow response fosters independence.

Start with the oldest, flag up tasks to be done that will take more than a quick reply.
Reply to the ones that that are just quick queries as I go through.
Once I've read them all, decide which order to do tasks in then I'll write a list of them and work through in order of priority.

I scan read them all first, flag anything that requires action from me, delete junk as I go, file away those that were for information only, and leave the ones that require action from me in my inbox. They only get filed away once the task is complete so I don't forget about it. Repeat as new ones come in.

Flick through them all first thing, flag any that need dealing with, if any are just a simple response I respond as I go. Then try and prioritise the tasks behind the others, I often keep an eye on emails etc whilst on teams meetings

When I’m having my morning coffee I’ll glance through them to see if there’s anything urgent.

Then I’ll do the same throughout the day - reading the important ones but ignoring the others.

Then after tea I’ll spend time going through them and replying properly.

I find if you do it every day then they don’t get on top of you as much.

Do you have them connected to your phone?
I find this helps as you can see them as they come in so can ignore them or read them.

I try and do like a category all at once. So if I’ve got requests to make appointments i’ll go through the whole inbox and deal with all the appointment requests. Or if I’m doing accounts i’ll deal with all the remittance emails in one go. Makes it simpler to my brain than jumping about between tasks all day

Deal with them oldest first between 8.30 and 9.00 and 4.30 to 5.00. Same or previous day. Then file. Empty box. Obviously I don't get as many as some people but when I was an administrator i always kept it empty so I couldn't miss anything.

MorningStarling is that one in the office moans about, wondering how she keeps her job when she's so disorganised or lazy. Don't be a MorningStarling!

If you click on the 'Folder' option and then 'Clean up folder' it removes all the duplicate emails in a chain leaving you with only the most recent (hope that makes sense!) This really helps me especially after days off/holidays :)

I scan through and anything I need to reply to with brain engaged and is not urgent (this moment house burning down) or takes