Email has become the number one time-wasting activity for many people in the work place, edging out poorly run meetings. Email is a powerful productivity tool, but many of us misuse or even abuse it. Fortunately, there are several simple strategies you can adopt to use email more effectively and increase your overall productivity.

Reduce email quantity

For every five emails we send out, we typically receive three responses. Reducing the number of emails you send by one in every five results in a 12% decrease in the email that comes into your inbox. Reducing the emails you send does not mean that you ignore people who email you. Try making a quick phone call instead, or if you are communicating with a colleague, walk across the hall and speak person to person. Sometimes old-fashioned communication methods will take less time and get more favorable results than email correspondence.

Be very discerning with the reply to all function, and use it only when necessary. Avoid engaging in the type of free-for-all battles that are often waged over email. These battles are seldom productive and can often be quite destructive.

Use the subject line effectively

In order to reduce responses back to you when group emails are sent, you can use the acronyms “NRN,” which stands for “no reply necessary,” or “NTN,” which means “no thanks necessary”. For very short messages that fit into the subject line, you can use the acronym “EOM,” which stands for “end of message.” That way, your recipient can see there is no need to open the message. Of course, you need to do a little training in advance to let people know what NRN, NTN and EOM mean.

You can use subject line telegraphing with words like, “question”, “please respond by:” (then give a date), “response requested,” or “clarification,” before your subject to get attention and let people know what to expect in the body of your email.

Make sure that the subject line in your email clearly relates to what is in the body of your email. Most of us have sent and received many generations of an email with the same subject line, where the body of the email has nothing at all to do with what’s listed in the subject line. Using a clear, pertinent subject line saves time, especially if you need to refer to the email in the future and find it easily.

Improve email quality

Get right to the point of your email at the beginning so people don’t have to wade through a large volume of content to know what you are writing about. Think “speed.” The faster you get to the point, the faster people can process the content of your email and the more time and money you save. Write clearly and concisely, and make the content of your message relevant to your key points.

The length of emails we send can save – or waste – time. Being succinct with our words does everyone a favor. Many people only read what comes up in the preview pane, so keep your messages to 10 lines or fewer whenever possible.

Use bolding and underlining to identify topics. You can also use bullet points and numbers to clarify the points you’re making. Write clear sentences and use punctuation. It’s difficult enough to read content on a computer screen, and especially challenging when text is all grouped together without sufficient breaks or formatting.

Manage email time

To avoid email distraction, change the settings in your email program to disable both the bell and the visual cue. Or, extend the time between automatically checking for messages. Then, determine how frequently you want to check your email and stick to it.

Another option is to only check and respond to email in the morning, after lunch, and before leaving work. Or, check email only one time each hour. In most cases, people can wait for your response. Email is processed more effectively when it’s done in blocks all at once, rather than one at a time as it comes in.

Email can be a powerful tool for saving time and increasing productivity, or it can be an enemy of productivity. Increasing your awareness of when and how to use email can make a big difference in whether it’s a positive or negative business tool for you.

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Barbara Browning is the owner of OrderWITHIN, and is a productivity trainer and consultant. She offers training on email skills and management and can be reached via email at Barbara [at] orderwithin [dot] com, or through her website at www.orderwithin.com.

Copyright 2009, Eureka Times Standard Newspaper. The print version of this article first appeared in the 1/8/09 edition of the Times Standard.

NOTE: Barbara will present a free talk titled “PHAT Productivity for Lean Times” at the Eureka Library on January 29 from 6:30-7:30. Visit www.humboldtorganizers.com for more information on the lecture series being presented by the Humboldt Organizing Professionals Exchange (H.O.P.E.) at the Eureka & Fortuna libraries in January.