Time Management and Prioritisation in a Digital Age.

Electronic rules of engagement - How to manage your inbox

There are now more and more mechanisms for communication and methods of accessing and transporting data that ever before.  Which is great, but it can mean that it becomes easy for us to become overwhelmed with information. 

In practical terms, this translates to people often complaining about the size of their inbox, struggling to spot which messages require immediate attention in amongst the noise of newsletters, meeting invites, Zoom links and the usual spam. 

So, in the age of digital communication and social media here are ten tips for setting your electronic rules of engagement:

1.     When checking your inbox scan each email quickly and make an immediate decision. The ‘two minute’ rule is a good one – if you can action the email within 2 minutes do it immediately

2.     If an email can’t be done in two minutes make a note of the action required on your To Do list – so that it can be prioritised appropriately along with your non-email related activities

3.     Don’t use your inbox as a To Do list. Whilst it provides a very useful record of some of your tasks it will very rarely form the basis of a definitive list of your responsibilities at any one time

4.     Do set expectations for how frequently you will check and respond to your emails – and communicate these.  The digital age has led use into a culture of expecting electronic instant gratification, with people expecting an immediate response even if it isn’t required. So, let people know how you use your email system, and if something is that urgent, encourage them to go old school and pick up a phone!

5.     If you are booked out in meetings, or even project work which needs your uninterrupted time, use your ‘out of office’ reply so that people don’t unnecessarily feel neglected by your lack of response. On a practical note, it makes them aware of alternative means of contacting you or who to speak to in your absence.

6.     Actively seek opportunities to delete or file electronic information that comes your way.  As well as feeling strangely satisfying (once you’ve got over the immediate fear of doing so) it helps you focus and find the important stuff.  The more ruthless you are the better.  Believe it or not, a happy inbox is an empty inbox!

7.     Don’t use your inbox as a storage facility. That’s not what it’s designed for.  Give everything a proper home. If it’s important customer correspondence, then store it either in your CRM system or the client file. The same goes for internal comms, or anything else that comes via your inbox

8.     As with emails set aside specific slots of time to engage with social media tools you may like to use, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Clubhouse, etc. You can gain a lot from these mediums, however dealing with the information they push your way can become very time consuming.  I’ve personally set up a separate account to receive my newsletters, alerts and non-work correspondence – that way I only have to look at them when I have time

9.     Regularly set aside time to have a clear out.  Even with the best of intentions the odd message or two can end up languishing in your inbox because you couldn’t quite decide what to do with it, you were waiting for information, or just blatantly procrastinating. 

Allocate specific time to deal with these to get you back on track.  I like Friday afternoons, as my high-performance juices might be running a little low at this point after a busy week. It also makes sure that I’m on track for Monday morning.

10.  Finally, once you have set your ‘electronic rules of engagement’ turn it off!! Checking your inbox every time you hear a new email ‘ping’ in is not productive as you lose your flow of concentration.  In addition, you also spend additional time deciding what to do with it, further reducing your productivity.

Having a full inbox is not cool – it’s not to be treated as a badge of honour or a measure of how important or busy you are. 

A full inbox means that important emails get lost in the noise; it’s more difficult to find the information you need and ultimately has a negative impact on your productivity.  It also suggests that you aren’t on top of things. 

Many people I’ve spoken to consider an empty inbox as an impossible Nirvana – however with discipline it will become a reality.  The other very real possibility is that you may experience withdrawal symptoms, and could end up feeling a little strange because all of a sudden you don’t have a long list of emails by which to judge your worth.

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