Getting E-mail Done

Credit for many of these ideas goes to David Allen, author of Getting Things Done.  I cannot recommend his work highly enough.

It’s a fact: people waste far too much time in their e-mail inbox.  You’re probably one of these people.  E-mail has a funny way of making it feel like you’re accomplishing something even if you aren’t.  The problem with that is that it can absolutely kill productivity – if used ineffectively.

As David Allen, creator of the Getting Things Done framework, says in his 2009 book Making it All Work, it’s not information overload that stresses us out, but potential-meaning overload.  In the book, he uses the analogy of nature, which is surely more stimulation than we can process – and yet we find it entirely relaxing.  However, if a snake or a bear could jump out at any time, Allen says, then we experience nature a lot less peacefully.

Many people treat their inboxes as though a “snake” or a “bear” could jump into the inbox at any time.

If you treat your inbox not as a useful tool but as a potential field of landmines, then there is simply no way you can be at your top form.

What Can Be Done With an E-mail?

As Merlin Mann discusses in his must-watch video “Inbox Zero” (available on YouTube, and a source of many of these concepts), there are really only five separate actions you can take with an e-mail you receive.  It is essential to know these five actions if you’re going to master your inbox.

First, you can do an action the e-mail requires.  For example, if you receive an e-mail asking you to forward a draft of a proposal to your boss, you can do that in about thirty seconds.  If you can perform the action the e-mail requests, do it and then get the e-mail out of your inbox.

Another action you can perform is to respond to the e-mail – but only do this if it will only take two minutes or less.  “But what if I know it will take longer than two minutes to respond, but I know I want to reply?” you may ask.

In that case, defer the e-mail to another time.  It is useful to set up a folder – to be processed regularly – labeled “REPLY” for these e-mails.  You can also defer specific actions.  For example, go back to the example of forwarding a proposal to your boss.  Imagine the e-mail told you to write a five-page proposal for your boss.  Clearly, this would be a situation in which you would delegate the project to another time.

A fourth action, which you may find yourself doing quite often, is to delegate — or forward – the e-mail.  Sometimes, you’re simply not the best person to be dealing with the e-mail.  In that case, get it out of your hands and to someone who can deal with it more effectively.

If an e-mail doesn’t fall under any of the four previous categories, then you can simply delete it and be finished with it.  This will go a long way towards keeping your inbox clutter free.

Get it to Zero

With these five actions in mind, open your inbox.  Set aside an hour or so (depending on how much your inbox has swelled) to go through every e-mail in your inbox.  For each e-mail, decide what action should be taken.

Once you get your inbox to zero, keep it there.  You’ll be surprised at how effectively you can deal with your e-mails when you only have new ones in your inbox.

Don’t Keep it Open

This aspect is a bit of a challenge.  Don’t keep your e-mail box open all day.  Yes, it’s tempting, and yes, you might feel like you’ve lost contact with the world, but by reducing your e-mail time to once every hour (or similar time interval, depending on your comfort zone and level of time-sensitive e-mails), you’ll be surprised at the increased level of productivity.  By only checking your e-mail in short bursts, processing all the e-mails according to the above five possible actions, you will lower the number of possible e-mail interruptions that will distract you from real work.

This guide is by no means a comprehensive look at the Getting Things Done framework for stressfree productivity; for that, you should read David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done. When used effectively, the Getting Things Done framework and the subtleties within it become a way of life, not a series of tips and tricks.  By mastering the art of e-mail, you will place yourself squarely ahead of your peers, increase your productivity, and eliminate the stress of dealing with an unmanageable inbox.