[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="205" caption="Image via Wikipedia"]
[/caption]Parking my scooter outside 'The Havelock Tavern' in Masbro Road in London recently, I noticed man standing outside the pub smoking while reading and replying to emails on his Blackberry. As I locked up my bike, I overheard him complaining to himself about the amount of unnecessary emails he was copied into in his business.
At that point, I spoke up and asked him about his business. "I'm buying another pub around the corner. I own this one and I am adding another one. I get all these emails from the solicitors, agents and builders which I am just copied into and which are, quite frankly, about things I pay them to be worried about".
I said I had the same problem with email. I get several hundred emails a week into which I am copied or 'CC'd'. And I filter them so that I either flag these emails in my inbox or move them to a special folder. If the emails are important enough then people will get in touch with me to say so. If not, then it was not that important anyway.
He said that that was "a bloody good idea" and how can he do the same. It's quite easy. You just set up a rule in your email software (e.g. Microsoft Outlook, or Mozilla's Thunderbird) and tell it to move or mark any emails on which you are 'CC'd'. It saves a lot of time.
And that's the reality. We spend an awfully large amount of time reading things we are not interested in or in which we have no concern. Email is good thing as long as you learn to filter it. Also, you must learn not to copy people into emails which you think they might be interested in. Don't waste everyone's time.
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- 12 Tips to Keep Your Email Organized and Running Smooth | The Host ... (hostbaby.com)
- 1 in 5 UK workers spend 32 days a year managing email (your-story.org)
- 5 Ways That Gmail's New Priority Inbox Will Affect You (blogs.constantcontact.com)
