Recently, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital invited Lorena Prime from Clearly Organized to speak to members of the Leadership Council about strategies for managing their email inboxes. Some of the tips and tricks she shared are useful for staff at all levels.
Start with a Clean Inbox
Perhaps you have been working at BWFH for several years. Do you have hundreds of old emails in your inbox? How often do you reference them? Try creating a folder called “Old Inbox” and move all old emails there so that your inbox now only contains new messages. All of your old emails still exist and can be easily found using the search feature, but your inbox is no longer cluttered with out-of-date information.
Trash, Reference, Action
Now take a look at the new messages in your clean inbox. Every one of them falls into one of three categories: trash, reference or action. Start by deleting anything that you clearly do not need. You might even consider unsubscribing to some senders and blocking spammers. Next, file away any messages that are simple FYIs. If you do not like to keep up an elaborate filing system with many folders, just create one folder called “Reference.” This one folder will be easily searchable should you need to find something. Finally, take a look at the remaining emails. These are the ones that require action. Your action items will seem much less daunting once the trash and reference items are out of your inbox.
Use Microsoft Office Outlook’s Tools
At BWFH, we use Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. The program has features that allow you to create tasks and make rules. With tasks, you can keep track of your action items and get reminders. Rules allow you to customize where and how messages are delivered. Perhaps you receive a weekly newsletter that piles up in your inbox. You can create a rule that sends just that newsletter to a special folder that you can look at later.
Mind Your Manners
Whether you write one email a day or 100, email etiquette is important. Remember to use the “To,” “CC” and “BCC” lines appropriately. And only include coworkers who need to be included on an email. On the flipside, take care when replying all to an email. Does everyone in the group really need to know, or can you simply reply to the sender? Understanding that you and your coworkers are all busy, you should try to keep emails clear and concise and always include a signature line with your full contact information (see BWFH’s standard email signature template below). If you are going to be out of the office for even a day, set up your out of office reply and include emergency contact information should a sender’s message be urgent.
We all work differently, but we all want to leave work each day feeling organized, on track and caught up. You might have a system for tackling your email that works for you. But if you’re feeling overwhelmed, starting with the tips here can help. These simple changes to the way you manage your email inbox might just help you take the first steps to alleviating some of the stress of your work day.
