Emails are important in work. After working for many years, I have developed some methods and techniques of my own. Recently, I also participated in a live event on email management on Zhihu. Here, I summarize some insights and techniques about email management that should be paid attention to, and how to use them effectively to improve the efficiency of managing emails in the short term.
Zero Inbox#
Zero Inbox means keeping the inbox empty by processing each email on the same day.
Combine immediate and scheduled replies to quickly take action on emails from important contacts (clients, leaders) or emails containing important matters. Other emails can be processed at a fixed time during the day.
At the end of the day, make sure the inbox is empty and that all tasks have been properly handled. This is not an easy habit to develop, but it can bring great rewards and make daily work more rigorous and efficient.
Make Good Use of Filters#
Set up email rules so that when receiving or sending an email, the mailbox can perform a series of conditional judgments on each email and take actions based on preset rules. Customize commonly used rules to achieve the desired effect.
Common conditions for filters include:
- Who the sender and recipient are
- What keywords are in the subject or body
Common actions for filters include:
- Move, auto-reply, delete
- Mark as read
- Add tags
4D Processing for Each Email#
4D stands for Do, Delegate, Defer, and Delete.
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Do Take immediate action if you find that the email content is something you can complete in a short period of time.
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Delegate If you find that someone else is more suitable or it can be completed at a lower cost, you can choose to delegate the email.
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Defer If you are currently working on something important and cannot complete the email content in a short period of time, you can put it in a deferred folder.
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Delete You can put notification-type emails in the "Processed" or "Notifications" folder.
Email Writing Tips#
Master and use these techniques to express the content of emails concisely and clearly, write high-quality emails, and make it easier for recipients to process them.
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Email templates Set up commonly used email templates, such as a signature block.
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Make good use of subject lines Add labels such as , , , , , , , etc. to highlight the content.
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Reminder for long emails Provide an explanation at the beginning of long emails and extract important information.
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Clear structure for long emails Use headings, colors, bolding, numbering, etc. to clearly express the content of the email.
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Provide multiple options to recipients If recipients need to take action, provide multiple options to avoid delays in receiving results.
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Review the email Before sending, reread the email to ensure that the sentences are smooth, the subject is clear, and the logic is clear.
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Summarize action points If recipients need to take action, inform them of the key points.
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One topic per email Try to address only one thing in each email or summarize related matters.
Writing a Good Email#
The ABC rule is a framework for structuring an email, helping you place information in the correct sections and dividing the content into three parts: Action, Background, and Close.
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Action Clearly state the purpose and key points of the action, and explain the cause and effect accurately and clearly.
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Background Clear, concise, and relevant.
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Close Explain the next steps and provide tips, and include a signature.
Writing an email is similar to writing a blog article. It requires regular summarization and application of appropriate methods and techniques, and with practice, it will become second nature.