Tips on Controlling Your E-mail So It Doesn’t Control You

Sixty-two percent of C-level executives responding to a recent survey by IT services provider Avanade said they were bothered by frequent interruptions caused by irrelevant incoming data. Not surprisingly, given the state of most executives’ inboxes, the single largest source of such data was e-mail. All of us, executives or not, can make good use of these tips on managing e-mail from Mitch Joel, president, Twist Image, and author of “Six Pixels of Separation,” who wrote about the topic on his blog.

Mitch Joel is President of Twist Image — an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communications agency. In 2008, Mitch was named Canada's Most Influential Male in Social Media, one of the top 100 online marketers in the world, and was awarded the highly prestigious Canada's Top 40 Under 40. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation (published by Grand Central Publishing – Hachette Book Group), named after his successful blog and podcast is a business and marketing bestseller. You can find him here: www.twistimage.com/blog

Click through for tips on how to get control of your inbox.

Turn off all notifications so you aren’t tempted by that little “ding” noise or whatever you use to alert you of incoming messages. Without notifications, you will probably check messages a few times a day instead of a few times every hour.

Don’t hit “reply all” as it tends to create long and increasingly random strings of comments, many of which you probably don’t even need to see. Instead, respond only to the message’s creator. If you are the creator, let recipients know they should respond only to you. Copy people only when necessary, and keep the number to a minimum.

Instead, send your message to the intended recipient, then go to your Sent items and forward the message to the people you wanted to blind copy. This cuts down on embarrassing moments for everyone.

Many people use pre-defined signature files containing their contact information at the end of every message. In much the same way, you can create and use templates containing standard responses to messages you receive frequently, such as speaking requests. Simply create templates with what you want to say and enter them as signatures in your e-mail program. You can also use a macro program like Typinator, Quickeys or Keyboard Maestro.

If you work outside “normal” business hours, let your colleagues, customers and others know they needn’t worry about sending rapid responses to you during those same hours.