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??!!

Am i the only one then with 6,736 emails in my inbox?
I just checked the number there, that is actual!
I reply and keep on top but i just leave them in my inbox and I really do need to implement a better system. I am very organised in my work and work at a very senior level juggling a lot of balls!

UniBallEye my DH has more

But I find our brains work differently - he can just ignore the emails and do what he wants, I find it’s like rain on my head I can’t ignore them

But if I move them to another folder - whoosh - the rain cloud goes away and I can ignore them until I choose to work on them

no idea why

@EarringsandLipstick

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.

Agree. I had to learn the hard way to be so rigid with this because the emails where i worked just kept coming in. - -Relentlessly - -

It actually really stressed me out so
Filters and blocks was the only way i could survive.

All corp communications - Thursday
All training - Friday
Flags, folders and reminders

File and sort before log off.

I'm another one who deletes emails once they are delat with - I only started doing it a ocue of years ago and it was a big help

I read e-mails as soon as they come in and if they're urgent deal with them right away, but otherwise I generally deal with them oldest first.

Something I started doing this year is unsubcribing from unwated newsletters and things - I was amazed how many I got when i started thinking about them instead of just deleting! I'm not sure if that might help if you have a messy inbox?!

@UniBallEye

Am i the only one then with 6,736 emails in my inbox? I just checked the number there, that is actual! I reply and keep on top but i just leave them in my inbox and I really do need to implement a better system. I am very organised in my work and work at a very senior level juggling a lot of balls!

God that would stress me out. I delete them or or file them it they need to be kept info. My inbox only holds things I'm currently working on.

I scan them quickly to see if there is anything urgent, and archive all but the latest in a chain. I'll do urgent ones first then go to the oldest and work up.

I read them all first, sort in order of priority (in my head or on my to do list, depending on how many there are) and then deal with them that way. Any shiny new emails get treated the same way.

I try to make sure I’ve always read everything in my inbox (even if I’m in meetings all day, I’ll have a quick look at my inbox on my phone every half hour), so I know what’s required of me, even if I haven’t got round to dealing with it. And, in my head, everything (emails and other work commitments) is constantly being arranged in priority order.

I’ve never thought about, or articulated that before.

I scan through them each morning or as I get them and things that take 2mins get done, ones for needed info get filed in an appropriate folder and any that need actioned get flagged then unflagged when completed. I work through the flagged as I get time and at the end of each day anything still flagged gets added to a paper to do list or time for it is scheduled in my calendar.

I tend to have more emails on certain work days so I block out an appropriate amount of time to read and respond to these. More if following a vacation day etc.

I start from oldest first, but usually by the time I have scrolled down it's obvious if some have a real trail going on so I'd always go to the most recent when I get to that mail.
I believe that I only touch an email once, so read/action/reply immediately. I don't do return time labels to come back to it as imo it's doubling up on the work.
If I don't have the time to action I don't read it!

Start from oldest first. Anything that can be answered straightaway or passed on to someone else gets done asap. Delete or move to relevant folders. Anything that needs more of an answer gets flagged for later on when I can spend more time on it.

I do this first thing, before/after lunch (depending on meetings) and then before I go home.