I collect articles like this. Over the years I’ve seen hundreds of articles on email productivity but I’ve never seen anyone write about my favorite which is this:
Don’t give your email address to anyone with whom you don’t want to do business.
Just this one thing will guarantee that your email volume will drop by half. Maybe two thirds or even more.
I don’t care where you collect your personal emails, but your business inbox should be reserved for what I call ‘just in time’ emails — emails that affect relationships, revenue and reporting. Everything else belongs in a second, free email account or a news reader.
Of all the articles I’ve read on the topic, I think this is one of the more amusing conclusions I’ve read but that doesn’t mean the other ideas in it won’t help you.
One way you can cut out 90% of your email time is to hire a personal assistant (PA). These can be hired from outsourcing sites for a reasonable hourly rate. You can then train them by giving them access to your business email and then using a tool such as Skype to go through your email inbox every day for a week. After that, they can log into your email account every morning and only forward emails on to you that are absolutely vital for you to personally deal with.
So the only additional step you will need to take is to set up a different mailbox. If you receive personal emails, then it’s obviously advisable to steer them into your new email account rather than allowing your personal assistant to read them. Yes this will cost money, but a freelance personal assistant will potentially cost a fraction of the money you can make by freeing up several hours per day in some cases.
Go to the source: 6 Ways To Save Yourself From Drowning In E-mails.
Todd Lohenry 