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musings on lifestyle redesign
the life [simplified] letter
Catherine McCann, Author

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Photo Credit: Jim Dobie
August 30, 2012

Dear <<First Name>>:

Welcome to another edition of the life [simplified] letter.

News

A writing practice and the blog

I have taken up a practice of writing daily. Writing practice is recommended by many writers whom I admire including Maya Angelou, Anne Lamott, and Natalie Goldberg. So I sit and write for at least an hour or so every day. Some of the good material that comes from writing practice is not on the topic of a life [simplified]. So I’ve decided to post it on my blog. If you are interested, here is one post I did today. Enjoy.

This week marks the 10th edition of the life [simplified] letter. It’s been two months since I started writing weekly musings on a life [simplified]. It’s a small milestone but I’m still going to celebrate. Thanks for being a part of it.


Making Peace with Email

Finding email Nirvana


The average time taken to respond to an email is greater, in aggregate, than the time it took to create. ~ emailcharter.org

This question comes from a life [simplified] subscriber:

… I’d love to hear your thoughts on downsizing your electronic life, too.  I'm finding my email and Facebook and so on a bit overwhelming - how do YOU make decisions about what to dump or include, what to keep and what to throw, when it comes to your electronic life?

In this letter, I’ll tackle the first part of this question about taming email and next week I’ll discuss I how use social media such as Facebook and Twitter.


I have a love/hate relationship with email. I imagine most people do. Although email is as ubiquitous as the dandelions in my lawn, I don't recall anyone teaching me HOW to use email. Unlike the laws of physics, there doesn't seem to be a standard for email that everyone agrees upon.

Email started out like regular snail mail; a way to send messages back and forth between two people. Email is now treated like the Swiss army knife of communication tools. It’s a way to provide work updates, send requests, organize meetings, have discussions and much more. Email works well for some of these tasks and not so well for others.

So while I’m not an expert, I work hard at managing email. I’m ruthless and I’m consistent in my approach. I doubt my tactics would work if I wasn’t disciplined. It is hard work to make peace with email and end the suffering. It took me some time to get to a place where my email is manageable and I can empty my email client in about 15 minutes a day.

Here are my three steps to email Nirvana:

1. Reduce the inflow of email.
2. Make a decision about each email.
3. Be thoughtful when sending email.

Reduce:

Believe it or not, email arrives in my inbox because I have given permission to someone to send me an email. So, in theory, I should be able to retract that permission when I need to reduce the amount of email arriving.

I watch first for junk mail. Most spam filters get rid of the real junk. By junk, I'm referring to the emails for which I have inadvertently or purposely subscribed. Now, anytime I sign up for a website service or an online shop, I make it a habit to skip their email letters. I make sure to unselect the newsletter option, which, not surprisingly, is usually already selected. If I get an email I don’t read, I unsubscribe. If I miss it, I can subscribe again. I do subscribe to a small number of email newsletters. Since I'm selective about what I keep, I can take the time to enjoy reading them.

Make Decisions:

When I open my email client, I have a process for managing my email. Please notice that I say, “I manage my email”, not “I check my email.” It’s an important distinction.

My email client is a tool. I have spent time playing around with my email client to learn what it can do. By spending the time to learn about my email client, I have learned about its features so I can take advantage of them. I also take time to learn about new features in my email client when they come out. Not all features are useful to me, so I use the good ones and leave the rest.

I aggregate my emails in one email client. I know that some folks like to separate work and personal email (or maybe the company demands it) but generally I'm not a fan of having multiple places to manage email. I forward all my email addresses to one spot so I can manage them all at once.

I use filters. I use filters to sort the wheat from the chaff. I use filters to skip the inbox all together so important emails stand out when they do arrive in the inbox. I’ve identify a few generic labels such as Newsletters, Financial, and Business and force routine emails into those folders. It takes a while to set up the filters and I still tweak them occasionally but it is worth the effort.
 
I shut off notifications unless I’m expecting something urgent. I’ve rarely had an email that was so urgent, it couldn’t wait until I sit down to read email. If an email is that urgent, the sender should call me. Notifications are disruptive and unnecessary.

I use a block of time to manage email, usually once a day. By keeping my incoming email reduced and using filters, it takes me less than 15 minutes to manage my email in a sitting. My goal is to take my inbox and all other folders in my email client to zero and then empty the trash. I consider email a conduit for information that requires a decision to be made. By using filters I have already prioritized most email messages to a degree.

Here are my steps for reviewing my email:

I always check my spam filter first. I sometimes find that legitimate email lands in there as I have my spam filters set high. I quickly make decisions about what to keep by moving the keepers into the inbox and the rest are permanently deleted.

Next I work through the ALL MAIL inbox (that is all email sent and received). I start with the oldest email first. I open it, read it, and make a conscientious decision about it before I move onto the next email. The decision could be that I need to add an appointment to my schedule - I have a date confirmation from someone. Maybe I need to reply to the email. Maybe the email chain is done and I need to determine if I should save the email.

If I can do something with the email in 2 minutes, I do it immediately. If I can't do something about the email in two minutes, I schedule it to be done later - not on a to do list - in my calendar.

After I’ve managed the email, it is deleted. Then once I have dealt with all my email both sent and received, I empty my trash. I have rarely regretted deleted an email if I’ve been making thoughtful email decisions.

As part of my overall strategy for managing information, I keep digital file folders organized by project. If I save an email it's because I need it. I print the email to PDF. It gets filed with a descriptive name and a date plus the abbreviation EML. I only keep the last email in the chain, not all the emails. I do not keep emails in my email client.

Thoughtful Email:

Speaking of chain emails, I try to avoid them. Email is not useful for iterative conversation despite the fact that most email clients will organize email by conversations. A phone call is better for that purpose. However, I try to reduce back and forth email chains by crafting good responses in advance; anticipating what might be asked and providing the answer. I also avoid sending additional unrelated questions to my recipient by replying with an earlier chain. I take the time to start over and help the reader to know that they are getting a new question.

When crafting an email, unless I’m writing an update email to a long-lost friend or I'm writing to my mother, I try to stick to five sentences maximum. I make every sentence count. The discipline really forces me to get to the point. I just stick to my request. I’m not always successful at brevity because I tend to be long winded, but I try.

I use descriptive subject lines to help my reader to know what to expect. I do my best to be respectful of my recipient's time.


So have I achieved email Nirvana by following these steps? Maybe. I still have to work at it and I do get lazy about clearing out my inbox occasionally. However, when I’m disciplined and follow through with clear decision-making, managing email involves less suffering. I can then enjoy reading and responding to the ones I do get.


Your life [simplified]

This week, why don't you take some extra time in your inbox when you open it and make a decision about each email you receive. While you are working through your email, review your subscribed email. Keep the gems and unsubscribe from the rest. Also, make a promise to yourself to deal with all your email daily. Get your inbox to zero and be ruthless.

Let me know how these strategies work for you. If you have any suggestions about how you manage email, please let me know. I'll share responses in an upcoming letter.

I'll look forward to your comments.

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Catherine

P.S. Check out my letter archives if you are interested in reading back issues.

P.S.S. I recommend reading this Email Charter. The suggestions, which are crowd sourced, are helpful.
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life [simplified] is written and produced by Catherine McCann, writer, consultant, micro-entrepreneur, spouse, and Chow Chow parent.



I would love to hear from you. Please email me at catherine@cvmccann.com.
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