7 Rules Of Effective Email

The Seven Rules of Effective Email

1) Email will consume all your time and life if you let it -- so don't let it.

Always place time limits on email. For example, you may choose to read email from ten to ten thirty, four to four thirty, and then a quick check after dinner. If you read email constantly, you'll get very little done except for reading email!

You don't have to answer all your email; no such law nor moral obligation exists. I ignore all spam and semi-spam. Even somewhat legit email will usually get ignored by me if I don't know the sender and they couldn't be bothered with visiting my site to figure out my name.

Then again, I get several emails from people I've never met who have read my books or read my blogs. I do respond, although sometimes briefly.

I answer a lot of email by telephone. Yes, the telephone still works. Sometimes I'll reply to emails via my cell phone while driving home. Sometimes I'll answer email in person, such as when my wife emails me and I can walk to the next room to see her. I'll also deal with some email with responses like "Ask me when me meet Fri."

Never respond to short emails with long answers. For example a one line question should not elicit a five page answer; the medium is not designed for exchanges of that sort. I often send one and two word responses, such as "excellent" and "yes" as appropriate.

(now if you're procrastinating anyways, it's OK to read email as it comes in, as well as to respond with long soliloquies if you'd like)

2) Your Inbox is not a storage area. Move email out quickly.

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