5 Savvy Tips To Stop You Getting Bogged Down In Email

Do you want to be remembered as someone who does great work, or for your speedy email replies??NATHALIE MARQUEZ COURTNEY?is sick of saying sorry in emails.

I did it again. My fingers hovered over the keyboard. Trying to blaze through my emails, I was typing, for what felt like the hundredth time that day: ?I’m sorry for not getting back to you sooner…? Sometimes, I’d add a qualifier (?It’s been a crazy few days?). Other times, I’d keep it short and sweet (?apologies for the delay?) and move on. But almost always, there would be some kind of apology. It was shortly after one of these mammoth wrestling matches with my unruly inbox that a story popped up on my Twitter feed; it was from?New York?Magazine’s ?Science of Us? column. Written by Melissa Dahl, the piece was titled, ?Let’s all stop apologising for the delayed response in our emails?. Later that day, it showed up on my Facebook feed. That evening, a friend shared a quote from the piece on her Instagram.?Clearly, it had hit a nerve.

Here, she shares her her top tips for getting through your inbox efficiently:

Turn off?notifications. The constant ping or vibration is keeping you hooked and breaking your concentration.

Batch process emails at designated times throughout the day. Open up your email when you’re ready to deal with it and can give it your full attention.

Don’t use your inbox as a storing place for all messages. Archive or delete messages you don’t need, ideally as soon as you open them.

Be sound about subject lines: The subject line of your email is the heading/title – it should tell someone what the email is about. Make it detailed, to the point, and meaningful.

Avoid adding clutter to people’s inboxes by cutting down on those ?thanks? and ?got it? replies.

@nathaliemc

Read more in the October Issue of IMAGE Magazine, on shelves now.