If you ever sent me an email, whether by replying to one of my emails or by using the “contact†form on my site, there’s a very good chance that you didn’t get a reply. One of the ways I stay productive is by saying “no†to most of the things that cross my path, and that definitely includes email.
I do read my email and I encourage you to write to tell me what’s on your mind or to ask questions. I get a lot of ideas for blog posts from your questions and comments, so please don’t stop writing. But don’t be disappointed if you don’t hear back from me, or if you get a one or two-word reply.
Time is money. Tempus fugit. I love ya, but I get a lot of email and I can’t spend hours every day replying to everything.
How about you? Do you answer all of your email? Do you “say no†to most of it? Or do you do something in between those two extremes?
I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do because everyone is different. But I encourage you to think about your situation and establish a policy that works for you.
Obviously, you shouldn’t ignore emails from clients or prospects. Nor should you discourage them from writing. In fact, you should do just the opposite–the more you communicate with them via email, the less time you’ll need to spend on the phone.
The point is that email (and regular mail) takes up a good portion of the day for most professionals and it is okay if you don’t reply to everything. If you can shave off 30 minutes a day by not doing so, doesn’t it make sense to move in that direction?
A good place to start is by deleting or archiving emails from people who want to sell you something or do business with you. It’s not rude to ignore unsolicited email, however personal and polite (or known to you) the sender might be. Your refusal to reply is, in itself a reply that says, “thanks, but no thanksâ€.
It’s also okay to have someone reply for you. And to use form replies that require no more than a couple of clicks.
Start by making yourself aware of how much time you spend responding to email, and to whom you are responding. You might want to keep a log for a week or two and then imagine that time being spent doing billable work.
If you want to get more done in the course of your day, you need to say no to most things that cross your path, and email is a good place to start.
How I got my email to “inbox zero”
