Or are you? I ask because, for the most part, all of this “convenience” actually constitutes quite a lot of behind-the-scenes work, doesn’t it?
Wednesday, October 08, 2014
5 Bad Email Habits That Ruin Your Productivity
Or are you? I ask because, for the most part, all of this “convenience” actually constitutes quite a lot of behind-the-scenes work, doesn’t it?
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This article had a lot of good information especially since CMU sends out so many emails a day. Between the School of Drama emails and the emails from the various clubs I'm in I already feel like I'm drowning. I particularly liked the advice to delete things that aren't necessary to answer right away, though I feel like I would just forget about them then. It is also a really good reminder that we shouldn't be trying to answer emails all the time and sneaking out of conversations to go check them; I know that can add a lot of stress because then you're thinking about what you should say to the emailer not to what you should say to you friend. The article makes a great point that you should only use email where email would be most effective. Don't use it when texting (which I find is is checked more often) or calling is faster.
Considering the fact we get so many drama-all emails that do not always have truly valuable information in them learning how to truly manage your email is important. Even with the annoyance of drama-all emails I would not turn off my e-mail notifications because I know I would then forget to check for two days and then have twenty emails I have to go through. Personally, I delete every email that is not a necessity the second I get it and the important emails go in to a specific folder so i can refer to it later. Getting back to someone is important but we do not need to be checked into our email every second of everyday and can be apart of the face to face conversation we are having and respond to that email later.
Almost all of the advice presented in this article is super helpful and definitely applies to CMU drama people. The one piece of advice I'd have to disagree with, would be deleting emails. I never delete emails for the sole purpose that I may have to refer back to them later. Especially on my CMU account.
As for checking email all the time on personal devices and setting aside time to not be checking email, I actually do that (not entirely by choice). I am not entirely certain how to load my CMU email to my phone, so because of that, I can only check it on my computer, which allows me to not check it during events and classes.
I wouldn't turn off email notifications- as annoying as the non-essential ones are, I do get the occasional email that I'm really glad I read right away. I also know that I'd end up just forgetting to check my email at all, or start checking it obsessively, and neither of those would be a good thing. I find that notifications are actually a good way to not stress about emails- you know if you get one, so you don't have to think about it at all the whole day unless you get a notification about it. Before I had a smart-phone, I would stress out about missing important emails, and I'd feel like I had to check my computer whenever I could in order to stay up to date. I do think the tip about deleting emails is a generally good one. I never delete emails, and currently my inbox is full of "drama-all"s which have no importance to me, getting in the way of the actual important information. With that being said, I do actually have a lot of emails I couldn't delete- for example, we frequently get assigned things verbally in class, then get clarifying emails with detailed assignments in them later. While I'm not replying to these emails, I need to keep them so I can refer back to them later. However, it definitely would be useful to delete all the junk around them, so that I can actually find them a bit easier.
I check my email every day, and sometimes I check it repeatedly (which is a bad habit). I feel that we have a constant need to be in communication with the outside world; emails provide the potential for that stimulus.
I try to organize my email by importance, so I'm not drowning in irrelevant emails unless I click on the folder they're in. It's important to be able to have easy access to everything you need without getting lost along the way.
I think it's also important to be courteous in emails. We can sometimes forget that another person is reading the message and may take things the wrong way. This is especially true for emails relating to business.
Delete delete delete!!!! That's something I have a lot of trouble doing! For me, it's all about the memory, which, to be honest, is totally stupid. I'm afraid of deleting emails because I'm afraid of deleting a memory that I once had. Sometimes I have a fire inside me that gets me excited and I just delete all of the emails from a specific source and I will get rid of labels completely just for the hell of it. But I think it's really smart to delete as you go because it just keeps adding up. I think I've become addicted to my email. I keep thinking that something will pop up one day and change my life forever... Nothing ever does. What I do like about email though, is that unlike texting, I don't mind waiting for someone to email me back. I mean, I prefer if someone does but I wouldn't get antsy over it. With texting, everyone is always so glued to their phone, it's kind of expected that an immediate response will be given.
I've never had push notifications for email turned on in my phone settings, and I really suggest it to those who currently do. While it may seem like some emails are important to get right away, this is almost never the case. If there is an emergency in your life or work, someone will almost always call you about it.
I also really believe in the idea of Inbox Zero. Unfortunately, I heard about this concept way too late, and am still currently working on filtering out my old thousands of emails. I do not necessarily believe in deleting emails unless they are extraneous reply-alls or spam. However, I do believe that filtering your email into separate folders can greatly enhance productivity and make your life seem less cluttered. Whenever I get a free moment, I attempt to go back to emails sitting in my inbox and filter them for this purpose.
Maximizing email productivity is super important, especially here in the school of emails and meetings. I went to inbox zero before the school year started, and it has definitely made a huge difference in the way I organize and deal with my emails. I don’t understand people who just keep unread emails in their mailbox and see “1,568 unread emails” every time they sign in, that sounds so stressful!
I find that replying to an email as soon as I can see it is the most helpful, if I can do that right away. If I need more information or time before I can answer, I keep it in my inbox until I deal with it and finally archive it. Once you get into the habit of doing that, the system is pretty much self-sustaining, and I can’t imagine going back to the way I used email before. Email is a very useful tool, but it seems like people aren’t always taught how to make the most out of it. I will say that I am definitely guilty of checking my inbox and replying to emails at pretty much all hours, so I'm still working on setting boundaries for that aspect of email management.
Here's the thing. I feel like I fall in a gray zone between good and bad habits. Sure, I try to operate with an Inbox Zero mentality, archiving emails as often as I have time to deal with them. But I also have a fair amount of bad email habits, chief among them being an almost incessant checking of my email. Yet, I feel like I don't get enough emails each day to necessitate "power user" level good email habits. Perhaps once I hit the 100 emails a day cap, I'll have to modify and improve my workflow. But for now, when I'm dealing with 25 tops per day, it just doesn't seem like that big a deal in my life.
I need to return to inbox zero. There was a brief, shining moment during the summer where I achieved it and maintained it, then the schoolyear started and it's run away from me again.
Something I wish the article had mentioned was the concept of thinking before you respond. There are very few things less sincere or heartfelt than a generic "Congratulations [large group of different people] from ME". Chances are, if you aren't close enough to a person or group of people that you wouldn't stop them in the hallway to congratulate them, you probably aren't the right person to be shouting to the universe about them. Respect for the utility of email as a tool for communicating with specific people, rather than a forum for espousing your own feelings would go a long way to making the general email experience more positive for everyone.
I especially agree with point number 5, it IS an ongoing battle. Some days win, some days I lose. I try my hardest to practice Inbox Zero (it really does make me feel less stressed out about checking my e-mail), and to not check or answer e-mail at inappropriate/all times. I have become better with having one e-mail-less day (Sunday) and not responding to after midnight e-mails until the next day/ However, when life gets stressful, this gets harder. Some days are a constant e-mail deluge for me, and it's tough not to spend too much time on them. It's also frustrating because if people send an important e-mail, you may have already missed the boat on responding 3 hours later. I think it would be good to everyone to think about mitigating and normalizing their expectations on the e-mail front.
I constantly check my email throughout the day. It's not that I get lots of emails, and even if I do get an email it's not like it's important. I just really dislike seeing that I ave unread emails. It's a huge pet peeve of mine, so I always need to be deleting things. I've started to delete emails a lot more recently, but at some point I really need to go back and erase the hundreds of emails that I should of but didn't. Although thinking about it, there are some junk emails that I really don't need but I like to keep on hand. The email from DR about the orange in the Rauh is classic, and I find myself referencing it from time to time. I think a lot of the rules for email that the article says are good but I don't think it's good to wait until morning for an email. I feel that it's very cleansing to go to sleep with an empty inbox.
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