How much time do you spend at work responding and sending out emails alone? Often times, you wouldn’t notice you’ve spent more time than you should’ve on emails. This is incredibly time-consuming if your inbox is overflowing. Next thing you know, you’re sucked into this email cycle and your productivity decreases.

Keeping your inbox zero can be satisfying but were your replies and messages sent good enough? There are ways to manage your emails smoothly and keep it professional as it should be.

Write your email before including the recipient’s email

Pretty sure most of us have had the misfortune of hitting the send button of an unfinished and unpolished email. It’s a common mishap that’s definitely easy to avoid.

If you’re using Gmail (like most people do), you can opt to turn on the Undo button setting which pop-ups right after you send a message. If you forgot something at the last second or just accidentally hit send, you can postpone the sending of the message.

Another no-brainer tactic to avoid all this is to complete the body of the message first before you input the recipient’s name in the email. It’s a simple solution to potential accidental mishaps.

Sort it out

If your inbox is a whole window of chaos, chances are you’re wasting a lot of time looking for which. Organize and simplify your inbox. If you choose to keep one email, keep your personal emails from professional ones by labeling which is which. This will help you focus more and prioritize what needs be. Though, it’s still recommended to have a separate account for each.

Schedule your email processing times

This means establishing strict schedules allotted for checking and responding in emails. In other words: don’t keep your email open all day nor visit it frequently. This will do nothing to improve your productivity, in fact, it’s mostly a hindrance.

Keep a schedule in the morning, after lunch, and before your leave the office. The world won’t submerge underwater if you skip checking your inbox at 11 AM. You have better things to do that’s more urgent and important that’s already in front of you. Finish it first then get back to your email after lunch, as per scheduled.

Respond fast

Like any other tasks, if it would only take you a good 3 minutes to respond to one message, do it. If it will only take a short, 30-second reply, much better. Enough with your irrational thinking that since it will only take a couple seconds to reply, you’ll get back to it later. You have scheduled “email processing” times, not “email reading.”

Keep it short and direct

People have short attention span so when writing to someone or responding to them, bring the message straightforward. No sugarcoating or flowery words. Just keep it short and simple.

Also, to be honest, not a lot of people have the time to read paragraphs on emails. If you have that long of a message, write it up on a Google Doc and share it with the recipient. This will give the impression that the message is long and there’s no way of shortening it without cutting out important details.

If you want to get quick responses, compose a short and direct email that contains all the key information. Don’t let the reader wade their way out of a 10-paragraph email to find your key message. You wouldn’t want that, do you?

Close the tab when you’re done

As mentioned earlier, it’s important to set your email processing times where in these time windows, you’re free to answer as much emails as you can. Once your window is over, it’s best to close the tab and move on with your other urgent and important tasks.

What are other good email habits that you practice? Help our readers maximize their time and improve their productivity—share it with us!

About Chie Suarez

Aside from providing tips and hacks in personal and career development, Chie Suarez is also a resident writer for The Fordham Company—one of Australia’s top celebrity management companies and a major celebrity speakers bureau.