But don’t confuse having an opinion with leadership, or mounting email volume with weightier job duties. One way to grow your influence is indeed by taking on more responsibility. We all have leadership aspirations–and that’s generally a good thing. Too many people want to have a say in too many things. Second, don’t exaggerate your own importance. For example, if an email thread results in deciding that we need to schedule a meeting, I’ll make a note to prep my boss with some information from those emails–but I’ll delete them once I’ve finished that prep session. Occasionally I’ll add items to that list based on the content of an email that didn’t require a response. Don’t confuse having an opinion with leadership, or mounting email volume with weightier job duties.įirst, I keep an actual to-do list. Here are five tips that make the system more effective.

I’m ruthless about deleting emails that don’t require my attention. But I’ve actually gotten better over time at sticking to my five-folder rule. We tend to get more lax about newly adopted habits as their newness rubs off. So once you embrace this system, you need to adhere to it mercilessly–there are no half measures. If I think I may need to reference an email again, I’ll save it to this folder.Įmail will quickly become your master if you don’t take charge. FYI: Most items I receive are informational.Depending on your role, you many need a monthly folder. This Month/Quarter: – Everything that needs a longer-term response.This Week: Everything that requires a response before the end of the week.Today: Everything that requires a response today.The exception to this rule is when you respond immediately and are waiting for an immediate response. Emails shouldn’t stay here any longer than it takes for you to file them into another folder. Emails, like meetings, rarely stay on track. The biggest mistake, in my experience, is creating folders based on topics. The technique comes with all the beauty and simplicity you’d expect from a firm charging seven figures per engagement–and it relies on a folder system you can tally on one hand. My best friend works for a major consulting firm, and I was grateful when he sketched out the rough strategy his firm shares with consultants to help them manage their own unruly inboxes. The system I use now isn’t a product of my own invention. Looking back, I didn’t have the discipline and discernment to really manage my email habits. I thought most messages addressed directly to me needed my response. So not only did I put up with this mess, I was actually complicit in letting it worsen. My team stands between two major organizations within my company, making collaboration crucial, however inefficient it was in practice.

Part of the problem, I knew, was the nature of my work.

Fast simple email program