Email productivity tips to save you from yourself

The relentless onslaught of emails can be counterproductive to work. Instead of checking your inbox every few minutes, turn off notifications and set two-three dedicated slots in the day for checking email.

When BlackBerry arrived on the scene, back when years had two zeroes in them, it changed the way we work. Suddenly, not only were we available for a voice call, we were reachable on email too. We could be on our way home from work and reply to that email the boss sent at 9.11 pm. Or roll out of bed, BlackBerry in hand, shooting off instructions to the team at 6.05 am. Right up until the eventual democratisation of the BlackBerry, the majority of workplaces still managed to stick to something resembling a routine. We didn’t wake up to a barrage of emails primarily because we didn’t have a device in our hand that could let us access emails.

Slack, Teams, Basecamp and other such apps notwithstanding, email remains the cornerstone of all official communications. If anyone had any notions that these apps would replace email, it is clearer than ever that it isn’t going to happen in the foreseeable future. And it is thus that we find ourselves at the mercy of that beep on our phones and the notification that says it’s time to stop what we’re doing and pay attention to what just arrived in our inbox.

This relentless onslaught of emails can be counterproductive to work. Imagine being in the thick of preparing an important presentation and having your phone pinging through it all! So, how do you save yourself from the email?

The secret that no one tells you is that you don’t have to answer your email the moment it drops. And yes, it could well be an email from your boss. The moment you interrupt what you’re doing to check your email, you’re taking attention away from the task at hand. You don’t need research (even though it exists) to know that when you go back to that task after interruption, it takes some time to get back into the zone. So, when you keep checking email regularly, you’re being less productive because the task you’re working on doesn’t get your full attention. The best way to resist the temptation to check your email is to turn off notifications. Instead, set aside two or three slots in the day for checking your email.

The moment you see reading and replying to emails as two separate activities, you’ll realise that not all emails require an immediate response. These could also include emails from your boss. Doing this will likely result in at least one of two things: your colleagues (likely even your boss) will know that you have other things on your plate than replying to their emails. You will have set boundaries by simply choosing to not reply immediately. The second thing that will happen is you will have time to process the email and craft a better response.

You may not always have the time to immediately address issues raised in emails, but it is always a good idea to reply the same day anyway so the sender knows you’ve seen their note. You need not commit to anything, just a line saying you’ve received this and would get to it in the later part of the week, would go a long way.

Brevity goes a long way, no matter whom you are writing to. Sure, email etiquettes have changed since the pandemic started, and it is customary to check if your receiver is doing well, but it doesn’t need to be a rambling paragraph. Fake concern is easily spotted. Be polite, yes, but also cut to the point. Your receiver will thank you for it.

Remember those glorious days when you had no idea who had written to you till you got to work? Yes, well, you can’t go back to that but your first act of the day at least needn't involve checking your email. Set aside a few minutes before you leave to see if anything needs your urgent attention – just a quick scan will do. And then turn it off till you get to work. Use the commute to prepare yourself for your workday… a day on which you don’t let your email beat you.