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1.
Set
up a simple and effective e-mail reference system
The first step is to understand the
difference between reference information and action information.
Reference information is something you want to keep in case you need
it later. Action information is data you must have to complete an
action.
So, firstly, transfer your reference emails to a simple filing system
such as subfolders within your Inbox. Then follow the next 3 steps to deal
with your action information.
2. Schedule
uninterrupted time to process and organise e-mail
McGhee argues that with constant
interruptions it is impossible to focus on an email that requires
you to make a decision. She argues that an hour should be set aside
every day to deal with such messages and that, during this time, the
phone should be ignored and your diary status should be set to 'busy'.
3.
Process one item at a
time, starting at the top
Resist the temptation to jump randomly
from message to message because McGhee says an organised
approach will produce the best results. Simply sort your messages by
date, subject or sender and work through the list one by one.
4.
Use the "Four D's for
Decision Making" model
Here is a clever process that encourages
quick and decisive action for each email. McGhee recommends you
avoid opening and reopening messages several times a day whilst you
decide how to process them. Instead, open them once and decide
immediately which of the following D’s can be applied.
DELETE IT.
Go on, be brave. Ask yourself how much of that junk you save is ever
actually referred to again and if you don’t need to keep it, just
delete it.
DO IT. If
you can’t delete it and it can be dealt with in less than 2 minutes,
then just do it. It is not worth spending time filing a message for attention
later on if it can be processed
right there and then. You may be
surprised just how many emails can be dealt with very swiftly.
DELEGATE IT.
If you can't delete it or do it in under two minutes, can you
delegate it? If so, draft your delegating email in less than two
minutes and delete the original message or move it to your email
reference system.
DEFER IT.
If none of the above actions are possible, then you are left with an
email that only you can deal with and which will require more than 2
minutes of your time. But you can’t deal with it now because this is your
dedicated email processing time. So book some time to process the
message later in the day. |
