Five Methodologies to Deal with Email Overload
These days, it seems everyone has an opinion about how to deal with information overload, especially when it comes to email management. There are numerous methodologies, best practices, tips, and tutorials available, but are any of them really effective? We'll explore that question as we delve into the top five email management methodologies.
The Methods
The GTD Method: GTD, or "Getting it Done," methodology arose from David Allen's popular and ground-breaking work-life management system. His techniques can be applied to nearly all aspects of work and life. Specifically, using the GTD method for processing email involves taking action on every piece of email that arrives in your inbox. As you review each item, you should should do one of these 3 items if the item requires action: 1) Do it (if it takes less than two minutes), 2) Delegate it, 3) Defer it. If the item does not require action, either 1) File it, 2) Delete it, or 3) Incubate it for possible action later. By processing mail this way, you'll always have an empty inbox.
Implement It:
Due to GTD's popularity, there are now several software tools to choose from. A list and comparison chart of many of these tools can be found here.
One of the more popular tools, boasting 80,000 users, is the GTDInbox Firefox extension for Gmail. This extension, which recently relaunched with a new version, GTDInbox 2.0, automatically sets up Gmail labels like "Next Action," "Waiting On," "Someday," and "Finished." The extension is smart - as you label items as "Finished," it will automatically remove the label "Next Action." The extension also structures Gmail as a personal database of projects, references, and people, clustering related items together so you can easily find everything related to a project, contact, or file. For example, you could click on a project and email all the associated contacts.
The 4-Hour Workweek Method: Timothy Ferriss also released a popular book which offered the blueprint to how you could eliminate most of your workload and outsource your life in order to regain more personal time ("mini-retirements," as he called it). He recommends managing email through more of an avoidance strategy, calling email "the greatest single interruption in the modern world." To counter the time-wasting aspect of email, Ferris recommends you begin by turning off the audible alert and/or visual notification. Then move to checking your email only twice per day: once at 12:00 noon (or just prior to lunch) and again at 4:00 pm. He advises you to never check email first thing in the morning.
Implement It:
To help implement this process, an auto-response email template can be used, which advises of your new process while also offering a way to reach you in the case of an actual emergency (like a cell #). If you become the master of this method, like Ferriss, you could even move to checking your email once per week. Of course there are other things that need to be adjusted in order for this to work, like removing yourself as an information bottleneck or empowering subordinates or employees to make decisions on their own, but ultimately the goal is to reduce your email inbox from being filled with urgent to-do items.
The "Treat Email As SMS" Policy: Another method to dealing with email involves treating all incoming email as if it were an SMS text message. Only use a set number of sentences to respond. How many sentences is up to you.
Implement It:
A web site called sentenc.es can help you implement this. Begin by updating your email with a signature similar to the following:
———————————————————————-
Q: Why is this email 5 sentences or less?
A: http://five.sentenc.es
The link takes you to the web site explaining what you're doing. There are also sites available for four, three, and two sentences, if you want to be even briefer.
The Folders & Rules Method: The classic old-school way of organizing your email into meaningful folders containing similar items. This method arose from a time when desktop email software was the norm and email search was either poorly executed or non-existent. Despite the fact that there are now clearly superior ways to organize mail, many people are still moving email into folders. This process can be automated in desktop software, like Outlook, or in web-software, like Gmail, by using "Rules" (aka "Filters" in Gmail). This process involves having incoming mail identified based on sender, keywords, subject, etc and then categorized and filing appropriately. Gmail also introduced Labels, which allows for mail to exist in multiple "folders," an option that is more like tagging your mail, but ultimately, it is just folders 2.0, leading Gmail users to having multiple labels for mail instead of single folders.
Implement It:
No don't! But if you must, at least make it easier on yourself. Read up on Outlook rules, Thunderbird filters, Gmail filters, or documentation for whatever your mail client of choice is. You can augment your software by using add-ons and extensions, too. For Outlook users, the Clear Context add-in will overhaul your email system and help you manage your inbox better. Apple mail users can use Mail Act-On.
The Email Bankruptcy Method: Surprisingly, some people are just giving up on email. The term's origin may have originated from MIT professor, Sherry Turkle's, concept after conducting research on people's relationship with technology. She discovered that some people had fantasies about escaping the burden of their email. However it was author, Lawrence Lessig, who popularized it.
Take this example from a Washington Post article:
Stanford computer science professor Donald E. Knuth started using e-mail in 1975 and stopped using it 15 years later. Knuth said he prefers to concentrate on writing books rather than be distracted by the steady stream of communication. "I'd get to work and start answering e-mail -- three hours later, I'd say, "Oh, what was I supposed to do today?" Knuth said that he has no regrets. "I have been a happy man since Jan. 1 , 1990."
But, according to the article, dropping out is copping out - "a reactionary and isolationist way of dealing with modern communications."
Implement It:
You shouldn't declare email bankruptcy unless you really have no other choice. If you are going this extreme route, the best way to do so would be to send out a mass email to all of your contacts with an explanation and an apology. Offer them other ways to reach you like phone numbers and snail mail addresses, unless you are committing to becoming a total hermit. Prepare to be ridiculed.
Conclusion
After reviewing the mailbox management methodologies, are there any that really stand out as the best way? The GTD method makes a lot of sense, but it takes time to retrain yourself to change years of behavior you've become accustomed to. Of course, time to train and change is something you often don't have due to the very same burden you're trying to overcome. Besides reading the success stories on the acclaimed authors web sites, how many people have implemented a GTD or alternative email methodology and stuck with it over time? Have you? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Posted by: john | March 20, 2008 10:00 AM
I have another better solution. On the average, companies pay their employees 9 hours a week for doing E-mail. Hire a Virtual Assistant. We can do it faster which in turn costs less.
Posted by: Vicky | March 20, 2008 10:36 AM
A couple of rules I occasionally invoke - delete all email's on receipt where I'm cc'd and not the main recipient; delete email after 2 days - if I haven't dealt with it in that time, it can't have been that interesting...
Posted by: Tony Hirst | March 20, 2008 11:59 AM
I'm more familiar with "email bankruptcy" not as meaning to give up on email completely, as in Knuth's case, but to merely wipe out your backlog of email--all those sitting in your inbox that you've yet to read or respond to, i.e. your email "debt"--without acting on it (Mark All As Read) and start over with a clean slate. That seems to be Lessig's meaning as well; the Wired article says, "For his part, Lessig still seems to intend to respond to all future e-mails."
Posted by: Jordan Running | March 20, 2008 12:02 PM
Interesting post. I follow the GTD approach as much as possible and empty my inbox daily, answer an email if it takes me less than 2 minutes, assign it to a time slot, etc. It works great for me, but I don't get loads of emails a day. What I also find very intriguing is Luis Suarez'(from IBM) experiment to stop emailing and answer email in public on his blog, social network tools, etc. He writes about it on his blog(s). (And I commented on it on mine.)
Posted by: Samuel Driessen | March 20, 2008 12:30 PM
I know that you know that I know that you know that your trackbacks aren't working. I posted a short piece on my blog about what email senders can/should do with these new email management practices in mind.
Email Marketing: 4 Ways to Help Recipients to Take Action
Posted by: Tom O'Leary | March 20, 2008 2:27 PM
My solution to e-mail was to create a 'misc' folder. I toss in everything I don't specifically need to act on. Just in case I need to search for it in the future.
Posted by: Bob Sanford | March 20, 2008 4:07 PM
I essentially do the GTD method. The biggest key to it is answering it when you read it, because otherwise you often won't get back to it. I couldn't imagine not keeping it clean. I heard Balmer from Microsoft say he still reads and answers all his own emails. I think the rest of us can figure it out too.
Posted by: John Lynn | March 20, 2008 10:13 PM
The solution lies in www.Orla.org - which not only gives you the interface needed to deal properly with email, but also teaches you and measures the improvement in your performance as a result of having changed the way you manage the work that results from the email you send and receive.
Posted by: Stephen Barnes | March 20, 2008 11:24 PM
Nice post, here are the things that work for me (I deal with 300+ mails every day across 3-4 mail boxes)
- I have permanently turned of of all new e-mail notifications (this helps avoid the urge to click on e-mail.. and get sucked in)
- I dont open my mail box for first 1-2 hrs in the morning
- use GTD
- For finding e-mails: windows desktop search (amazingly fast) and search in gmail
I am now considering the suggestion from your post which is to check mails only during pre-decided slots during the day...
Posted by: Sameer Guglani | March 20, 2008 11:33 PM
If you're using Outlook 2007 you can use the PIFEM method -http://blogs.technet.com/jkruse/archive/2008/02/01/pifem-a-closer-look.aspx - which is a combination of some of the techniques in this post.
Posted by: Johann | March 21, 2008 6:37 AM
Nice post. Surprisingly you forgot Inbox Zero:
http://www.43folders.com/izero
Posted by: RichK | March 21, 2008 7:45 AM
Nice methods.
Posted by: 113.com | March 21, 2008 8:57 AM
I agree with the author. I recently started using GTD and the best part of my new methodology involves staying out of my email, so I can get things done. When I do get to my email I quickly forward those things that need a longer than two minute response to my GTD inbox. Then once a day, I assign any tasks awaiting GTD to an appropriate project or list. I have documented my experience with this system in a recent blog post at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com
Posted by: John B. Kendrick | March 21, 2008 6:11 PM
"Email Bankruptcy" is a very real issue for many business owners and project managers alike. Most professionals spend 2-3 hours per day writing and responding to messages.
To combat this issue many in our organization have done away with PDA's so that we are not always checking and writing messages. When dealing with our customers at Joint Contact we also make efforts to be accessible via telephone as well as email.
Posted by: Wayne | March 21, 2008 8:23 PM
I use a GTD-like approach, but only during a few email slots a day.
I do not do the five sentences, but definitively avoid writing any long email.
Another golden rule: "Agreements are written, disagreements spoken". That is, never try to solve a disagreement by email. You will only get an annoying ping-pong email trail. Pick up the phone or organize a call, get the agreement and distribute by email.
Blackberry is also an excellent tool to deal with emails in any waiting situation (traffic jam, long lines, while in a taxi, or waiting for boarding...) Just beware it can create addiction..
Posted by: Jose Miguel Cansado | March 22, 2008 8:45 AM
I use GTD for my email, more or less, and it works well for me (although my 4 inboxes combined rarely have more than 70 a day, so I don't regularly have the enormous backlogs some people do). I keep "defer it" (things that need action but I can't do it now) in my inbox, which sort of violates the GTD spirit, but works for me. I rarely delete things; more frequently I toss them in a topical folder, which might as well be misc as I usually find them later by searching anyway.
I really like: "Agreements are written, disagreements spoken". That both cuts down on email ping-pong and keeps the various negotiations from being cast in stone later, when emails can be pulled out out of context.
I am trying to learn not to respond to every email with a "thanks" or "talk to you later" -- that helps cut clutter too.
Posted by: Kate | March 24, 2008 11:03 AM
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That's only a small portion of the issue here, obviously, but if part of your problem is staying on top of inbound email from customers, website visitors, etc., a free account might be a big help.
The service's website is www.emailcenterpro.com.
Posted by: Josh Cochrane | March 24, 2008 12:10 PM
Thanks for the tips. I will mention them in one of my following posts on my blog devoted to the subject of information overload, http://www.managingio.com
Posted by: Nicolas | March 25, 2008 4:57 AM
thanks for the info.
Posted by: dawson | March 27, 2008 1:41 AM
Comment 1 ("While reading this article, and I was struck that it probably was relevant to a social networking site,...") is spam and should be deleted.
Posted by: Speaker-to-Animals | March 28, 2008 2:30 AM
You hit the nail on the head in your final comments, when you said that it requires a change of habit. Overcoming email overload is very similiar to trying to lose alot of weight -- the solution is simple, the practice is more difficult. Why? Because it requires a change of habit.
And just like eating, which you need to do to live, you can't really eliminate the source of the problem. Email is here to stay.
In this lightening fast world, everyone seems to be looking for the quick fix. Many people's email problems are because of wasteful habits that they've allowed to evolve. So, whichever method you try, commit to at least a month of focus so that you'll have new, useful habits.
Posted by: Marsha Egan | March 28, 2008 7:39 AM
Personally to effectively cope with the incoming streams of information including e-mail, I’m using my summarization application. At a click of a button I get to see the essential keywords and the most important sentences. Over period of time I found that looking at the instant information capsules gives me quite useful insight and saves me a lot of time. If you would like to try out summarization this is the product link: Context Organizer from Context Discovery Inc.
Posted by: Henry Lewkowicz | April 7, 2008 7:14 AM
Extremely useful article, but a comment on "The Folders & Rules Method". While folders and rules are GREAT, the outlook implementation of them sucks. You can only file your emails either when they arrive (before they hit your inbox) or when they are sent. On the other hand MoveIT is a much better solution. It acts like your office assistant/filer. Once you are done with an email, you simply highlight it (or a couple of emails) and click the MoveIT button (it only works on Outlook). The emails are then automatically filed in the correct folder. Read more about it here: www.bluelightit.com/MoveIT.
Works great for my email overload, and has certainly helped me to achieve a clutter free inbox, without changing the way I work.
Posted by: Amir | April 8, 2008 3:48 PM