How can you manage your time well and keep your communications efficient as a CEO? Learn tips and tricks in this guide to CEO email management.
Are you guilty of letting your email inbox go for days and seeing your email count climb off the charts? If you wait until you see the little plus symbol next to the number of emails to finally start combing through and want to change this habit, you are in the right place!
Keep reading to learn how to manage your email like a boss plus tips and tricks to CEO email management.
Take the Time to Unsubscribe
We know we are talking about saving time here but take the time to hit the unsubscribe button from those newsletters you signed up for and never have the time to read. You will do yourself a favor and the person that is sending them a favor.
Do not try to do this in one day if you have thousands of emails because you will end up quitting. Instead, take a 30-minute block of uninterrupted time every day or twice a day and see those emails dwindle down.
If you are receiving a hundred emails every day take a look at how many are spam. Maybe you can change your spam or junk mail settings to help catch and filter emails that you do not want.
Be Brief
There is no reason to write a whole novel when you are replying back to someone. Try to be as brief as possible and get to the point. This will save you time and the person on the other end will appreciate the fact that they can quickly read your email and know what it’s about.
Organization Is Key
Create folders to make life in your inbox easier. For example, you can create a folder called “read me” and as emails come in that you want to read in the very near future (such as newsletters that you truly will read) move them over to that folder.
You can have another folder called “action” where you move emails that need you to do something before you can cross them off your to-do list. Anything that you can do immediately and reply to right away, just do it (as Nike would say). There is no reason to let it sit there and get buried under all the new emails you are bound to keep receiving.
Do Not Get Behind
Once you have your emails all caught up and your inbox looking as minimalist as possible give yourself a 12 or 24-hour rule. This means that you will clear your inbox no matter what at least once every day.
This will avoid the mountains of emails from piling up and it will also ensure that you do not miss anything important.
Answer Without Cherry Picking
You do not want to answer only those that you view as having an important title in their positions. Treat everyone that you email with the same importance no matter what their job title is or what they do.
Do Not Open and Forget
Sometimes it is common to open an email, glance over it, and then do nothing. This turns into forgetting about it because when we say we will get to this later and do not make a note or a reminder, chances are we will forget.
If the email requires you to do some legwork hit the reply button and tell the person on the other end that you received their email but you have to do some digging into the situation. Once you do that pin the email to the top of your inbox or mark it as unread. If you have created an “action” folder you can move it there.
The point is to not leave people hanging. This is not what a CEO would ever do. Treat others (even if it is through email) with the same respect that you want to be treated with.
Email Client
Consider installing an email client on your computer to help with your productivity. There are plenty of free email clients available out there. Make sure that you choose something that fits your needs and that isn’t so complicated it takes you weeks to learn how to use it.
If you have a Mac and are having trouble finding free email clients or are having trouble deciding which one to use check out this guide: https://setapp.com/lifestyle/the-best-free-email-client-for-mac. You can see the pros and cons of each email client and make a decision.
Inbox Is Not a Storage
We repeat your inbox is not a storage space. Believe it or not, your inbox is meant to be a place where you send and receive messages. It is an exchange.
Think about your physical mailbox at home. Do you let your mail that you do not want pile up for days or weeks on end? More than likely you do not grab the mail you want or have been waiting for and stuff the rest back into the mailbox.
Feeling Like a Pro With Our CEO Email Management Guide?
Now that you are aware of how to tackle your email like a boss with our CEO email guide it is time to put what you learned into action! Make sure that you get yourself organized and get your emails under control to avoid missing a good opportunity all because you failed to keep your inbox organized.
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