9 Tips for Better Email Management
In the 15 minutes it took me to write this, I received three emails.
Whether that feels like a lot or a little to you is kind of irrelevant, because we have to start with this question:
Do you want to get fewer emails, or do you want to get more emails?
For a long time in my business life, I actually looked forward to emails. They meant offers for my clients, updates on cases, and sometimes a notification that someone paid me, which is always nice.
So maybe the real issue is not fewer emails, but more of the right emails.
If you are interested in the history of email and the psychological damage it does to us, I recommend Cal Newport’s A World Without Email.
The biggest takeaway for me, at least for this newsletter, is this:
Do you know why modern work email functions the way it does?
You know what I mean. We hive mind our entire firm together so everyone can ask everyone everything, all the time. Why do we email like that?
No one knows.
It has worked this way since email began, and we never figured out how to make it better.
For something that takes up so much time, it is wild that we do not have better practices around it.
So, for what it is worth, here are my top nine tips for email management.
1. The Right Mindset for Email
One day I had a revelation.
Email is a to do list you do not control.
I will say it again. Email is a to do list you do not control.
I did not come up with this, and I cannot remember who to credit, but this is where everything starts.
2. Outsource Your Inbox
Full disclosure, I do not do this, but I think you should.
Why the hypocrisy?
I do not do fulfillment work for any of my companies. That means I should not have client emails or external back and forth in my inbox. If I did, I would absolutely outsource my email. In a way, I guess I have, just to my employees.
If you plan to outsource your inbox, many of the tips below will help make that easier.
3. Unsubscribe Ruthlessly
Unsubscribe from every email that does not consistently provide value. If that includes this email, I totally get it.
The easiest way to spend less time on email is to receive less email.
Simple, but effective.
4. Use Filters
Most email platforms allow you to create rules and filters. Use them to prioritize what actually moves the needle.
Examples include:
- Move newsletters you want to read into a folder you can check later
- Automatically forward case related emails to your paralegal
- Send e filing emails to a parser that uploads them into your CMS
Automation here is a huge win.
5. Use the Snooze Button
I am a huge fan of this feature.
In Gmail, you can snooze emails until a specific time. I will block time for a task and snooze related emails until right before that window.
This has been a massive improvement for anything that requires focused review or follow up at a later time.
6. Schedule Your Sends
Schedule send is the cousin of the snooze button, and it is fantastic for setting boundaries.
If you do not want emails from clients at night or on weekends, do not send emails during those times.
If you cannot help yourself and you respond anyway, schedule the email to send during business hours.
This also helps reduce back and forth, since delayed responses often limit unnecessary replies.
7. Use Templates and Text Expansion
I hate to break it to you, but you send the same emails over and over again.
We all do.
Figure out which ones you send most often and create templates or text replacements for them.
A good rule of thumb is this. If something will happen 30 times, it is worth automating.
This can include:
- Asking an assistant to schedule a meeting
- Answering common client questions
- Sending links to videos, infographics, or your Google review page
Automation saves more time than you think.
8. Check Email Less Often
This one is mostly mental.
The odds that an email needs to be handled immediately are very low. The emotional pull to constantly check email is very high.
Pick one or two times per day to check email. If you are advanced, maybe even one or two times per week.
Just make sure you block enough time to properly handle what you find. Maybe you check at 11:30 and go to lunch when you are done. Or you start at 4:00 and leave afterward.
Build a system that works for you.
9. Turn Off Alerts or Delete the App
I am a big fan of turning off alerts for everything, but at the very least, do it for email.
You do not need to see every new message immediately. All it does is steal your time.
Turn off buzzes, dings, badges, pop ups, all of it. Let email wait until it is time to deal with it.
Final Thoughts
If you implement even half of these ideas, you will save time, be more productive, and dread your inbox a whole lot less.
Not You, the TV show. You, the person.