Is your inbox overflowing? Would you like to feel more in control of your inbox? In this article I will be sharing five strategies from my book, “The E-mail Manual“. It is the book you should have received when you first started using e-mail. After you have read these five strategies, why not have a look for the other articles where I cover other ideas and insights about using e-mail more effectively.

6. Learn to type (Properly)

Your ability to type quickly and accurately is your ticket to a more productive day.

If you still ‘hunt and peck’, take some basic lessons in typing or try using some inexpensive ‘learn to type’ software.

7. Make sure your email date and time Stamps are Correct

The date and time stamp are taken from your computer clock so it is important to ensure your computer clock is up to date.

Having the correct time and date on your computer helps those who you are emailing know how long ago you sent the email and if they should give your message priority. You can update your computer clock using the control panel.

8. Email is no place to get nasty

Sarcasm and passive-aggressive conversations don’t work at all well in Email. If you have ever misinterpreted the tone in someone’s email you already know the dangers of not being clear and concise with your email messages.

9. Structure a business email like a business letter

Email usually follows general business writing principles. When writing an email to a colleague or client, it’s important to establish your reason for writing the email in the first sentence or two. Then, after adding any facts or context, tell your reader clearly what you would like them to do next.

In this way the person who receives your email can quickly establish its importance and value when they see it in their email preview pane during a quick email scan through their Inbox.

Like business letters, your email sentence structures should be concise, logical and built upon one another.

10. Create and use an email signature

An email signature sits just above the footer of your email and lists your name, title, company name, phone number, email address, and other useful information.

A signature not only makes your Emails look professional, it saves time by not having to type this information into every Email.

Even if you have a default signature, you can change it to another signature when you are writing an Email. For example, you might want one signature for your business email and another for your personal Email. You can ever add company logos of photographs for a more elaborate signature.

To use one of your other signatures when writing an Email, simply click on ‘insert’ while in the compose email mode in Outlook. Scroll down on the drop down box to ‘signature’ and all of the signatures you have already set up will be shown to you. Pick the one you want and click it and it will appear anywhere in the email you want it to show up.

If you are not sure how to create signatures, ask a colleague, contact your help desk, or try Googling it.

If you would like to learn how to better manage your e-mail or inbox, why not consider my Zero Inbox training program? This e-mail management course is available in Australia and will soon be available online. You can visit, http://www.success.net.au/seminars/zero-inbox.html to learn more about how to better manage your e-mail and reduce your inbox. Alternatively, you can visit: http://www.zero-inbox.com/

Paul is an author, teacher and speaker on leadership, innovation and worksmarts. He is the Training Director of The Success Institute – Australia and for the past 15 years has written over 30 professional development programs, 10 books and other career development material.

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