What’s black and white and read all over? Email!

You can’t run from it. You can’t read all of it. However, you can stem the tide.

Here’s how…

AH, EMAIL

Take a deep breath. We’ll get through this. Let’s take a look.

Unsubscribe from those lists!

Are you on a lot of lists, like a LISTSERV or company email marketing lists? It’s time to unsubscribe! If you have a Virtual Assistant, this is a fantastic task for them to handle.

Customize for organization at a glance.

If you have a Gmail account, spend some time customizing and organizing your email. You’ll be able to find what you’re looking for more quickly with color coded email and labels.

You could get your team to help with triage.

My husband’s boss asked the team to create a descriptive subject line and start it with one of three words: ACTION, INFO, or HOT. Doing this helps him prioritize at a glance.

For example, the subject line could read, “HOT-Next week’s conference venue flooded in storm,” and he’d know that this was the most urgent issue, requiring his attention immediately.

Give email limited access to your time.

It will also help to check your email at specific times during the day, otherwise you risk being derailed every time you see a new message or hear an alert. Being intentional about when you check in will help your brain focus on other tasks.

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

If you perform a task in email more than twice, you should consider creating a Standard Operating Procedure, or SOP. By documenting a process, you are ensuring that it will be done the same way every time.

“But Stef, it will take too long to create an SOP for all these tasks! I’m already short on time.”

I know, but investing 30-60 minutes to create an SOP now will save you countless hours in the future. Remember those times when you thought to yourself, “Here’s another time where I need to send a carefully-worded email. I did the same thing just last week. Who did I send it to? I better search for that old email so I can remember what I wrote.”

You could spend a LOT of time doing that. An SOP will only take more of your time once and then that task will go quickly and with more accuracy.

AUTOMATIONS

If you have an email that must be sent repeatedly, automate it. For example, if you need to create an email like the one above—making sure to use the right language so it conveys the same message each time—create an email template. This is super easy to do in Gmail.

Go to Settings and select “See all settings”
Click on “Advanced”
Look for “Templates” and click “Enable”
Click “Save Changes” below
Go back to your inbox and click Compose on the upper left
Write your email
If you have an automatic signature, delete it (otherwise you’ll have two signatures in your template)
Click on the three dots on the bottom left of the message (“More options”)
Hover over “Templates”
Hover over “Save draft as template”
Click “Save as new template”
Type the name of the template and “Save” WARNING: Whatever you name the template will appear in the Subject line of your email. Now is not the time for a sense of humor. You don’t want to accidentally send an accounts receivable email with the subject line, Hey dummy, pay me!

DELEGATing

Now that you have automations and SOPs, it’s time to delegate! Automations can make sure tasks are carried out with precision. For example, once you have a series of templates, you can delegate certain emails that will require those templates.

Your SOPs will allow you to delegate email tasks with multiple steps to other members of your team. They will be able to perform the task the same way every time and you will be free to do something else!

I’m sure there are more ways to cut back on email time. What are your strategies? Let me know in the comments below.