First, you need to make sure all incoming emails are addressed within the day. Those that are not need to be filed in folders for the following days according to their degree of priority. This helps you managed the onslaught but it requires discipline and setting priorities. Your inbox needs to be clean at the end of the day. It’s psychological but it works.

Second, start educating people about how to write emails. Remember our society, unlike others is based on people making sense before they communicate and not dump everything on someone else’s lap.

Thanks!

… before they control you!

By Robert Harland

E-mail has become a nightmare for many people. They find themselves overwhelmed with messages and spend more time than they want shackled to their computers.

The simple answer to the problem is to spend less time on e-mails. Easier said than done? Not really. Here are a few tips garnered from those e-mail users who’ve learned how to spend less time struggling to cope with a daily deluge of messages.

Daily trawl: when you open your computer, go to ‘Sender & Subject’ first and delete as many messages as you can without opening them. You soon get to know which messages can be go immediately. Be generous with the ‘delete’ button

Treat each message like paper: there are four things you can do when a piece of paper arrives on your desk – file it, refer it, action it or … read it! The same goes for e-mail messages.

File it: for important messages and on-going projects, open a separate folder and make sure you transfer mail as soon as you’ve handled it.

Refer it: if you are referring the message and no follow-up is needed on your part, then delete the original. If you need to keep a copy transfer it immediately to the appropriate folder.

Read it – once! Try not to save messages to ‘read later’ as later may never come and you’ll end up with an inbox stuffed with unread messages.

If you don’t have time to send a full response right away and if it’s important, e-mail back saying you’ve received the message and you’ll get back to the party shortly.

Never leave an email in your inbox: always take action.

Deal with it when it arrives: if you spend a lot of your working day in front of a computer, it is a good idea to scan for new messages on a frequent basis – there might be something important or urgent.

But you don’t have to be a slave to the inbox. If you have it on your system, you can always turn off the sound that alerts you to new messages and check your e-mails at scheduled intervals throughout the day.

Keeping copies: a copy of an outgoing message will be saved in the ‘’sent mail” folder, which means you don’t need the original message anymore, so it can be deleted.

Regular clear-out: if you have non-urgent and personal messages or messages that come into the ‘really not sure what to do’ category, put them in a separate folder. When you have a spare moment go through them in the hope most can be deleted.

Spam: if you are unfortunate enough to be on endless mailing lists and constantly receive unwanted offers and ads, discuss anti-spam solutions with your company’s Internet provider.

Personal e-mails: it is easy to get distracted in the office with personal e-mails. If you find yourself spending a lot of time answering or sending such messages, consider having a personal e-mail address at home.

Many of us enjoy receiving and sending jokes, but these days many companies monitor employees’ e-mails so best to keep such mail for your personal e-mail address.

Nobody is perfect: even the most organised person can be sidetracked when an interesting message is received. But follow these simple steps and you’ll find yourself controlling your e-mails rather than e-mails controlling you!

This article is part of a series of Biz Tips from The Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI) in the Philippines.. Robert Harland is a director of MBCCI and a freelance British journalist based in Bacolod. He can be contacted on +63 916 343 7048.E-mail: rharland@mozcom.com

I really need to just start anew, and hope to get it right then.

Some great suggestions here though, Thanks for the article link Mike.