Chapter 25

Eight E-mail Overload Experiments

by Alexandra Samuel

If you’ve tried all of the basic ways to structure and manage your e-mail, but are still feeling overwhelmed, here are eight road-tested experiments for battling e-mail overload that range from reasonable to radical. Try each one, or a couple at a time—but push yourself to the very limits of your comfort zone, because the tactics that seem most inconceivable may be just the ones that help you discover a new way to work more effectively with e-mail.

If your company’s culture includes expecting instant replies to every message, e-mail your colleagues and regular correspondents to let them know about your experiment. This will help avoid ruffled feathers over some of the more radical suggestions.

1. Reject the mandatory reply. Set up an auto-responder that lets all correspondents know that you’re only replying to selected e-mail, depending on your availability and priorities—and make it clear you don’t expect a reply to every e-mail you send them, either.

   Here’s one version:

   SUBJECT: Limited e-mail means I may not reply to the message you sent

   Thank you for getting in touch. I’m experimenting with a new approach to e-mail: I’m sending and replying to a smaller number of messages. I still check e-mail regularly, so if you don’t get a reply within 72 hours please assume I have reviewed and filed your message. This approach should help me focus my attention on my current priorities. Thank you for your understanding.

   For a less extreme solution, add a polite line to your standard e-mail signature. Here’s mine:

   Alexandra Samuel, PhD

   Director, Social + Interactive Media Centre,

   Emily Carr University

   [email protected] |

   Twitter @awsamuel

   Join the fight against e-mail overload:

   • Focus on your priorities; I’ll understand if you don’t reply.
   • Sorry if I don’t reply; I’m trying to focus, too.
   • If it’s urgent, reach me by Twitter or SMS.
2. Set message quotas. For outbound messages, limit the number of e-mail threads you initiate each day. Assume that every e-mail you send will generate 4–10 responses, so you’re creating work for yourself with each message. Send fewer, and you’ll get fewer. For incoming messages, guesstimate the number and make that your daily quota. Use filters in your e-mail software to sort incoming mail and keep all but the most crucial messages out of your in-box. Auto-file other messages in alternative folders. Keep adding rules until your daily in-box volume falls below the quota you’ve set.

   For example, I automatically direct e-mails into different folders for internal mail, messages I’m cc’d on, social network notifications, and more. My closest colleagues know that any e-mail marked “URGENT” still comes directly to my in-box; you might set your rules to ensure that all messages from your boss come through marked as high priority or color coded in a way that makes them stand out. The filters thin the incoming messages to a manageable level and ensure that e-mails from current or prospective clients don’t get lost in a sea of spam.

3. Reply by phone. You can eliminate dozens of e-mails a day with quick calls. A five-minute chat about a landmine your project just stumbled on may be more efficient than crafting an e-mail that adequately explains the situation. Also, thank people in person or by phone, even if that means leaving a voice mail (detailed thanks for project work, however, should always go by e-mail, so the recipient can file it for performance reviews). Most crucially, switch to phone or in-person communication whenever you get a message that angers or hurts you, because e-mail exchanges tend to escalate and solidify grievances.
4. Do not copy. Refuse to send, read, or reply to cc’ed messages. As blogging entrepreneur Anil Dash puts it, including someone as a cc on an e-mail is like saying “This is important enough for me to interrupt you [with] but not to write to you [about directly].” If a message you’re sending requires a recipient’s attention, include that person in the “to” field; if not, leave them off entirely. Tell colleagues they should address messages to you directly if they need you to reply.
5. Don’t touch that phone! When you have a few minutes between meetings or while waiting for a plane, don’t use that time to respond to e-mail on your mobile’s tiny keyboard. Rather than send a rash or typo-ridden reply, wait until you’re back at your desk or with your laptop or tablet, when you can craft a better response in less time.
6. Take an e-mail vacation: Try a two-week vacation, a six-month sabbatical, or something in between. But it’s not much of a break if you come back to an overflowing in-box, so before you tune out, turn on the vacation auto-responder with a message like this:

   Thanks for your message. I’m taking an e-mail vacation until the new year. The message you’ve just sent me has been filed, so it’s not lost forever, but if you need a reply it would be great if you could e-mail me sometime on or after January 4. If you need to reach me urgently, I’ll be available by Twitter or mobile phone.

   Set your e-mail program to file everything in a folder labeled “Vacation,” and when you return, take a quick look for any truly life-changing messages you may have missed and actively ignore the rest. If someone really wants to reach you, they’ll e-mail again.

7. Reply to every e-mail: If ignoring e-mail makes your palms sweat, maybe it’s time to give into its primacy. For two weeks, make your entire morning an e-mail processing zone. (If three hours isn’t enough, block as big a chunk of time as you think you’ll need.) See whether your commitment to a 100% response rate makes you more effective. This will help you make some conscious decisions about how to better allocate your time and triage your in-box.
8. Give up e-mail altogether: For the ultimate in in-box liberation, give it up. Yes, you really can—especially if you’re comfortable with social media tools. Use your blog to post updates on your work instead of sen ding an e-mail to a big distribution list; Basecamp or another project management tool to communicate with project teams; Google Docs to circulate drafts; Skype for a quick conversation instead of a 14-message exchange; and Twitter DMs, chat, and SMS for tight, efficient, and confidential messaging. Take your e-mail address off your business card and Web page, and encourage anyone who needs to reach you to pick up the phone.

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Alexandra Samuel is the Director of the Social + Interactive Media Centre at Emily Carr University, and the co-founder of Social Signal, a Vancouver-based social media agency. You can follow Alex on Twitter at @awsamuel or her blog at alexandrasamuel.com.