My Inbox is Empty. Yours?
Wait! Don't curse me out! You can have an empty inbox too.
That's what Taming Email is all about - getting your email under control
"Doing" Email
Many years ago while working at Microsoft, my manager commented to me that he spent too much time "doing email". Even then, circa 1992, before spam and viruses and before email marketing, email had become an important part of daily business. It was easy to feel overwhelmed by the flood of messages, all seeming to demand some kind of response.
But wait. Just what does it mean to "do email"?
In my opinion it means that we're not looking at email properly. It means that a shift in attitude and approach is required.
Email isn't something you "do" - it's a tool you use.
Taming Email is about honing your skills using that tool. Just like a carpenter builds better homes as he becomes more proficient using the tools of his trade, we can all become better at whatever it we do by learning to more effectively and efficiently use the tool that is email.
And what a powerful tool it is.
Let's look a little more closely at the difference between "doing email" and using email as a tool
The Job
When my former manager went to work in the morning, his job wasn't to "do email". In fact, his job was to manage a group of software engineers and designers who were in the process of producing a particular component of a large software product. Email was simply a tool to facilitate communication between team members, other teams, and other parties with an interest in the project.
The problem was that the amount of communication that was happening by email was large. So large that it was easy to feel like email had become the job.
And of course above and beyond the project, email was also being used to participate in mailing lists and on-line discussions, stay in touch with friends and family, and otherwise communicate in both work, and non-work-related ways.
One of the very things that makes email so powerful - the ability to deal with it at the times you choose - was being lost in the desire to simply stay ahead of the incoming tide.
Changing The Mindset
The very first step to improving how you deal with email is simply to be aware what it is you use email for. Think of all the roles you play, and all the ways in which you use email to carry out those roles.
- communicating with your family and stay abreast of their goings on
- receiving direction from a superior, a client or an advisor as to just what your work should be
- coordination with co-workers on a project
- evaluation or management of employees
- participation in educational, professional or social discussion groups
- customer
- retailer or supplier
- ... and many more
Those are just some examples, your list will most certainly be different. In fact your list may be very open ended and ill defined. That's ok! The important thing is to start becoming aware of all those roles, and rather than lumping them all into one bucket - doing email - we'll start to examine ways of dealing with the influx in a more structured, simpler, and hopefully less stressful manner.
Taming the Beast: The Empty Inbox
Yes, as I type this, my inbox is empty. Zero. Nada. There are no messages in it. And yet I get hundreds of emails every day.
So how is it possible to have an empty inbox?
Well, I can tell you one thing I did not do. I did not spend today dealing with it all. In fact, I've actually been away from my computer much of the day, and busy with other projects, like this one, when I have been at the keyboard.
Instead, I have tools and techniques in place that allow me to sort, filter, ignore, postpone, delete, and prioritize my incoming email. Much of it is automated. In fact, being the kind of person I am, I've automated as much of it as possible.
And that's what Taming Email is all about. Tools, techniques ... and ways of thinking about email ... that will allow you to be more productive.
Rather than whacking away at wood with a rusty saw, you too can become a email craftsman.
Copyright © 2006 by Leo A. Notenboom and Puget Sound Software, LLC.
