• Avoiding Email Overload

    October 3, 2008 // 1 Comment »

    Avoiding email overload is a challenge.

    I can admit I am an opt-in page-aholic!  I love to study the gurus and stay on top of all the latest Internet Marketing strategies.  However, my sponge brain began to suffer from a severe case of information overload.  Not a good thing for an online productivity diva.

    My opt-in-happy fingers were getting me to an all too common scenario we online entrepreneurs face: Email Overload.

    I strongly believe email overload is the one of the - if not- the biggest challenge to online business productivity.

    I have found 5 super-helpful tips to minimize email overload.

    Here they go:

    1) Create a separate email for marketing opt-ins. Instead of using my primary email address I am devoting a separate email account strictly for opt-in purposes.  All of my opt-ins are Internet Marketing related.  Whenever I am working on sharpening a particular skill set i.e. SEO I can simply type “SEO” in the gmail search feature and find what I’m looking for at the particular moment I need it instead of reading insignificant material that I would have read had it been in my primary email.

    2) Unsubscribe from email lists that are not providing the value you deserve. Take 30 minutes at a time and clean up your email by either unsubscribing to the lists you are subscribed to that are not providing the value you deserve.  Sometimes you get the list owner who always promotes something without providing intrinsic value to you as the list reader.  If this is the case - cut them loose.  For those people you love you can usually change the subscription email to that list by clicking on a link stating “update or modify email info”.

    3) Only check email 2x a day - In my previous post I admitted email was still a challenge for me and my online productivity.   A great tip I learned from Timothy Ferriss’ “The 4 Hour Workweek”  was his email auto-response message stating:

    “Dear _______,

    Due to high workload, I am currently checking and responding to email twice daily at 12:00 pm ET [or your time zone] and 4:00 pm ET.

    If you require urgent assistance (please ensure it is urgent) that cannot wait until either 12:00 pm or 4:00 pm, please contact me via phone at 555-555-5555.

    Thank you for understanding this move to more efficiency and effectiveness.  It helps me accomplish more to serve you better.

    Sincerely,

    Your Name

    4) Shut down your web browser and any “noises” (or pop ups) to your email - indicating you’ve receive email - If you decide to work on a particular task for 30 minutes to an hour i.e. writing a blog post - type it in Microsoft Word first - unless you need to find a link.  I’ve found myself many a times checking email because I noticed I received a new email that might have been cool.

    5) Delete emails you no longer need and Archive Important Ones - Delete emails if they require no more action from you.  Archive the important emails.  I love gmail because you don’t have to set all the folders and rules for archiving email.  Gmail has a search feature so you can search for something you’ve archived by keyword.

    You can find a great post on taming your inbox at Chris Brogdan’s Blog.

    Have any other tips on taming your inbox or email overload?  Post it here!

    I appreciate you.

    Your Partner in Online Productivity,

    Dali Burgado

    Posted in Internet Marketing Productivity, Productivity Tips