Are you overwhelmed by the volume of messages in your e-mail inbox? Are you spending more time managing your e-mail than actually working? You're not alone. With many lawyers and professionals receiving 100 or more work-related messages per day, it can be easy to drown in that electronic sea. But there are ways to help manage the e-mail monster. Here are some quick tips for you and your firm:
- Deal aggressively and immediately with your e-mail. Reply quickly while the item is fresh in your mind. Replying later requires you to read and consider the message twice.
- Delete junk mail and messages you have dealt with promptly. Don't use your inbox for long-term storage. Set up appropriately labeled folders for storing messages. This will help reduce that helpless feeling you get when opening a bloated inbox.
- Check your e-mail only at defined times throughout the day. Don't be a slave to the "new message" icon.
- Beware the "reply to all" button! Consider the recipient list carefully and ask yourself, "do all of those people really want/need to receive my reply?"
- Use up-to-date and customizable spam filters and "block sender" features.
- Make good use of the "message subject" line. Summarize your message topic clearly to help the recipient identify and manage your message.
- Keep it short. In most cases, a few concise sentences are all you, and your recipient, need. Few people will actually read an entire message if they have to scroll their screen to do so.
- Establish a clear e-mail policy in your office. And don't be afraid to let a friend or co-worker know (politely) if he or she is contributing to the overload problem with excessive or inappropriate messages.
These are just some preliminary tips. Look for a more detailed article dealing with e-mail etiquette and management in a future issue of Lawyers Alert.