Send Less Emails and be More Productive
I’ve recently read an article about how overwhelming our inboxes can be and what Alexandra Samuel did to tackle this issue. Every morning, your day begins with an inbox number. A productive day meant you were able to get the inbox to zero by replying, reading or filing.
The inbox dominates your day but it should not. When you factor the countless of emails being read and sent, people spend dozens of hours a week on this. If your sense of success is dependent on inbox zero, it is time to make a change to this habit.
Alexandra started by making sure her top goal wasn’t an inbox of zero and was able to refocus on the tasks that are essential to her professional growth. Traditional emails comes along with the idea that they need to be read and responded in a timely manner but that only applies to a handful of messages. Most emails are sent as an FYI, a mass CC, or as a promotion.
New technologies have made it easier to get in touch and collaborating on documents easier. Tools such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote or Feedly help us share various resources digitally in a more time efficient manner. Using these platforms allow us to be more conversational and operate in real time while letting ideas unfold naturally. Instead of concentrating on the inbox, target your goals first and use collaboration tools to access the people and information you need to support each task.
With that being said, there will always be a place for e-mail. Using the email is appropriate when you need to make the initial first contact, confirming meetings and sharing links of documents that you put on the collaborative platforms.
With my experience, the number in your inbox does not reflect your productivity or success. Adopting new tools that help make sharing information with colleagues simpler and better organized is key. In doing so, you can clearly focus on the important tasks in hand to help grow yourself and business.