Email overload: There’s no doubt about it, email can suck up time if we let it. Emails can rule our workday.

It seems we’re busier than ever: A study by Reclaim found that 23.4% of people believe that since COVID, their workload has increased and that 78.7% of people feel stressed at work. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks we need to do. Do you ever start the week wondering how you’re going to fit everything in? The busier we get, sadly the more difficult it seems to manage our time effectively. Most people really don’t know how to manage time, it is a skill that has become more and more important as technology and the pace of life expects us to be more immediate.   

Poorly managed time hurts business

Despite all the current technology available many people are falling behind and just can’t keep up with the avalanche of digital messages. 

8 Common time management demons, the culprits that eat our time:

  1. Email
  2. Meetings
  3. Family responsibilities
  4. Admin/paying bills
  5. Not writing down what needs to be done
  6. Phones
  7. Social media
  8. Games

Did you know….

  • More than 50% of people check their emails every 20 minutes
  • 31% of people open emails as soon as an email notification appears.
  • Emails distract more than 63% of employees from their tasks 
  • 90% of employees check business messaging tools like Slack or Teams for up to 5 hours daily.

Email has become an integral part of our professional lives. The deluge of messages can dominate our workday, distracting us from more meaningful tasks and significantly impacting productivity. 

If you had a magic wand and were given just 1 more hour a day, what would you choose to do?

Taking control of our email means changing our behavior and it is important to understand and be willing to make these changes, or learn some technology that might help in the long run. Investing a little time now can save many hours later. 

9 Tips for staying on top of emails 

  1. Create rules and filter emails to automatically categorize them so that you’re not so distracted. I have many emails now going to junk, specific folders and have rules set up that allows me to review emails at set times of the day. 
  2. Set aside time throughout the day to review and reply to emails. 3 times a day is usually most effective. If email is your primary responsibility, schedule time in the calendar that is appropriate to meet the needs of the job.
  3. Unsubscribe from emails that are not relevant any more
  4. Delete emails that are no longer useful and needed. 
  5. Archive emails that might be necessary later such as those for expenses and reference. 
  6. Have an action folder right under your inbox and move emails into it which might need thought or scheduling for later.
  7. Stop reply all if not necessary. 
  8. Delegate to someone else if possible.
  9. Section emails into months and years folders for easy reference if your profession needs to keep email and refer back to them. 

The dominance of email in our work routines is often due to its convenience and the expectation of quick responses. A survey from McKinsey Global Institute highlights that employees spend nearly 28% of their work week managing emails. In a 40-hour work week that is equivalent to 11.2 hours a week or just over 2 hours per day. That’s enough time to have a great lunch!!!

Imagine what can be done if we didn’t focus all our time on emails.

This illustrates how email can consume valuable time that could be better spent on focused, productive activities and things that matter. We could go home earlier, Moreover, the sheer volume of emails can lead to cognitive overload, making it difficult to prioritize tasks effectively leading to procrastination.

“If you talk about it, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s possible. If you schedule it, it’s real.”

Schedule time for email, make it a focus when it needs to be a focus. Keep away from email first thing in the mornings. Decide what is important before looking at email. Plan the day and work the plan. 

“People who succeed at the highest level are not lucky; they are doing something differently than everyone else”

Choose to be different and change email habits.