Email management

Email Management
Kevin R.Thomas, Manager,Training & Development · Office of Human Resources · kevin.r.thomas@williams.edu · 413-597-3542
April 2019
krt4@Williams.edu
x3542
Learning & Development Manager
Human Resources
Kevin Thomas
Email Management

Email Management
1. Adult behavioral change and email management
2. Arriving in the present of email
3. The Inbox 0 Approach
4. Using filters
5. Tips
6. Q&A
Agenda

Email Management
• Why bad habits are hard to break
• The WOOP approach to change
– Wish
– Outcome
– Obstacles
– Plan
• It takes 2 months to form a habit
you can keep without thinking.
Adult Behavior Change and Email Management

Email Management
• 4 Generations of Pot Roast
• Two big changes:
– Unlimited space
– Faster, better searching
Arriving in the present of email

Email Management
• We learned to delete emails to save
space
• We now have unlimited space in our
email
• There is no need to delete emails,
or even to think about it.
• Archive, don’t delete.
Unlimited Space

Email Management
• Searching was slow or non-existent,
we had to organize emails into
folders.
• Searching is now very robust.
• There’s no need for an elaborate
“filing system” of folders.
• We’ll use folders/labels later to
queue up email-related tasks.
Faster Searching

Email Management
• To:Jane Doe
• From:Jane Doe
• To:Jane Doe has:attachment
• From:Jane Doe has:attachment
My go to searches

Email Management
• When your inbox is full:
– Your attention will scatter
– You will get wound up
– You will not have as much
choice about what you do
with your time
Inbox 0

Email Management
• On some regular basis, get your
inbox to 0
• May require a significant time
investment up front
• Easy to fall off; easy to get back on
Inbox 0

Email Management
• Because:
– You will be able to find it if you need to.
– It will come calling again if you’ve forgotten
something.
– You deserve a fresh start
• In your search box, type this precisely:
label:inbox older_than:1mo
• Select them all
• Archive!
• Applause!
The 30 Day Archiving Challenge

Email Management
• Preliminary Step 1: Create the
following labels
_next
_action
_someday
_waiting on
An Inbox 0 Method

Email Management
1. You can associate an email with an
event, so that you can easily find it
at a time you specify.
2. You will usually want to eliminate
the other invitees of the event
besides yourself.
3. Try it: I’ll send you an event, and
you create an event for Friday at
4pm.
An Inbox 0 Method (cont’d)

Email Management
GTD Processing System
Part 1 of 2
Is it
Actionable
?
Do it
Get clear
and specific
about the
action
Will it take
<2
minutes?
Archive
No
Yes
Yes
No

Email Management
GTD Processing System
Part 2 of 2: Action Needed, >2 min
Delegate it:
1) Label it “waiting on”
2) Forward to the
delegate with
instructions
3) Add to tasks
4) Archive
Does it
need to be
done
ASAP?
1. Add label
“_next”
2. Add to tasks
3. Change task
title to
specific,
concrete
action
4. Set due date
of today
5. Archive
1. Add Label
“_action”
2. Add to tasks
3. Change task
title to
specific,
concrete
action
4. Set due date
5. Consider
blocking off
time on your
calendar
6. Archive
Are you
the best
person to
do it?
YesNo
Yes
No

Email Management
Email Delegation
• When forwarding a message,
consider changing subject with a
brief description of the action to be
taken and a due date
– “e.g. review draft email
launch message by Friday at
noon.”
– Caution: will separate email
from the rest of the thread

Email Management
Look at your docket for today:
– Look at the emails in your “_action”
label.
Does anything need to move to _next ?
– Navigate to the “_next” label
– Look at your calendar tasks
Prioritize tasks:
– Do those that require the most
concentration first
– As you finish, mark each item complete
and remove the “_action” or “_next” label
After Processing Your Email

Email Management
• Setting up email filters in Gmail on LinkedIn
Learning
• Automatically apply labels so you can find, for
example, committee emails easier.
• You can have email skip the inbox and go to a
label for later review.
– use for informational emails like
newsletters, updates, etc.
• You can forward an email to your phone so you
get a text message whenever you get an email
from that person.
Using emails

Email Management
• You will set an unreasonably high
response time expectation for others
• You will be distracted from more
important work
• Your responses will not be thoughtful
Tip 1: Never Respond to an Email Right Away

Email Management
• If you are doing focused work
composing an email, consider
drafting it in a word processing
program first.
• Communicate your change in email
practices with important colleagues
(like your boss)
Tip 2: Turn off your email during focused work periods

Email Management
• Choose some hours during the day
when you will not check email:
• Lunch
• 10pm – 7am
• Vacations
Tip 3: Create email moratorium hours

Email Management
• If 2 email volleys hasn’t resolved an
issue, pick up the phone.
• If it’s someone you’ve had a
challenging work relationship with,
pick up the phone.
• If it’s someone you need to have a
stronger relationship with, pick up
the phone.
Tip 4: Know when to pick up the phone

Email Management
• Managing your email can make you
more productive
• You still may need to:
• Manage expectations
• Set priorities
• Delegate
• Say no
Tip 5: Managing Your Email is 1 Part of Managing Your Job

Email Management
Kevin Thomas, krt4@williams.edu, x3542
Email Management
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Email management

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