Email is a huge time-saver, helping us to communicate instantaneously without picking up a phone. We can trade short messages, long ones, avoid voice mail hell, and generally accomplish more in less time than ever before.

That’s the party line, at least.

In my experience, email is just the opposite. It’s a time-suck, drawing us in an wasting hours each day as we obsessively check and re-check our growing in-box until the wee hours of the morning.

The trick to making email productive is to keep it in check, balancing the needs of your business with the need to actually get stuff done. But how to do it?

Here, then, are my top ten ways to keep email at bay:

1. Stop Checking Email: You heard me right, stop checking it. At least, not all the time. Rather than keeping your email program up on your screen all the time, plan to open it only at set intervals. For example, make “Email Time” at 11:00am, 1:00pm, and 4:00pm. By doing so, you force yourself to concentrate on other matters rather than using email as a way to avoid work.

It’s really not necessary to check email constantly throughout the day, and doing so will regularly interrupt more important tasks.

Make it once or twice a day, and try to get your inbox down to zero. This will allow you to plow through the rest of your productive tasks without constant interruption.

2. Don’t Check Email First Thing In The Morning: If the first thing you do in the morning is fire up the email, resist the urge. When you check your email on beginning your day, you will get sucked into responding and dealing with new items before your real deadlines and to-do list.

3. Filter, Filter, Filter: By using the filters inherent in your email program (or in Gmail, if that’s what you use) you will be able to handle each item more efficiently. Put your listserv emails into one folder, court notices somewhere else, and client emails in another plan altogether. Organizing makes you more productive.

4. Respond When You Read: When you see an email, answer it immediately. Why? Because if you don’t, it will get pushed down the list of important things to handle. Once they are marked as “read” on your inbox, they will get mixed with all the others. In addition, this process will take up less time so you don’t need to read each email a second time before remembering what you will need to say in the reply.

5. Keep It Short and Sweet: Just because you can type a long-winded response does not mean you need to do so. If it takes more than 5 lines, pick up the phone - it will take less time, and you can ramble on a voice mail message without needing to take up your valuable typing time.

6. Have Multiple Accounts: Your friend needs to ask you a question, you mother sends one of those, “Why don’t you call as often as you should?” messages, and your opposing counsel sends a stipulation for your review. If you have one email address they all get lumped together, creating havoc and disorganization. But when you keep multiple addresses, personal stuff stays personal and business remains business. There are tons of free email services out there, but you can also do it with your own domain email if you host your own server.

How do you manage your email clutter to increase productivity?  Add a comment and let me know!

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We are all confronted with the dread that happens when we hit someone’s voicemail message - the moment right when the beep sounds and you suddenly realize you have no idea exactly what to say, and how long you have to say it.

The fact of the matter is that there are a few clear rules you should follow when leaving a message on someone’s voicemail system.  In fact, the Art of Manliness had a great post on it.  But I think the list can be shortened somewhat.  Here, therefore, are your step-by-step instructions on how to leave an effective voicemail message:

1. Begin by stating your name;
2. State your telephone number;
3. Indicate when you will be available at that telephone number to receive a return phone call;
4. Provide your email address and let the person know they can respond in that fashion as well as by voice;
5. Leave your message in two sentences or less;
6. Indicate whether a return call is urgent or not, being careful to not “cry wolf”;
7. Repeat your telephone number, email address and the times you will be available.

By taking these seven steps, you will be able to convey your message and all necessary information so that the recipient of the message will be able to respond without having to hear some garbled, long-winded monologue.

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