This is a guest article from Ted Demopoulos
We all get email, too much email. Remember when getting an email was exciting? Well, oceanfront property used to be cheap too.
Remember the AOL “You’ve Got Mail” voice announcement, as though it was a noteworthy event?
Email, big virtual piles of it, may be the norm today, but you can’t let it drive your life!
Here are five simple rules to help avoid email overload.
1) Always place time limits on email.
I’ll often read email before I go to work for a few minutes, maybe a half hour right before lunch, an hour late in the afternoon and perhaps a late evening check before bed in case there is anything important.
Before, during, and after work – isn’t that enough?
Do NOT read every email as it comes in! Unless of course, you are already procrastinating.
2) When in doubt, throw it out
There is no rule that you must respond or even read all your email. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day. That’s simply reality.
I try to read most of my email, but when it’s from unknown people, and the subject line isn’t enticing, it may get thrown out.
If someone I don’t know wants something, and this happens several times a day, unless they address me by name, it doesn’t get read. I do not respond to “Dear Webmaster” or “Fellow Blogger” or anything remotely similar.
I don’t read press releases or ezines I don’t recognize or anything in all CAPITALS. Sometimes I don’t even read ezines I subscribe to and enjoy.
Even inane emails from friends get ignored when I’m busy, even though I send friends lots of silly emails!
This may sound somewhat heartless, but most polite emails even from people I don’t know do get an answer. I answer at least 20-30 polite, personal emails from people I’ve never heard of each week.
3) Remember that email is not the right medium for all communications
You don’t have to answer emails via email.
I respond to some emails with the two-word phrase “call me” and then delete the email.
Sometimes I’ll respond with “discuss at lunch tomorrow” or similar and then delete the email.
Often a two minute phone call or a 3 minute in-person chat handles what would otherwise be a 10-20 minute + email response.
As a general rule of thumb, if a response to an email needs to be longer than the email itself, email is not the right medium!
4) Respond to email during down time
I respond to a lot of email while driving the car – via my cell phone. I answered emails today while I was waiting for my car oil and filter to be changed. Yesterday I answered email for 20 minutes while waiting for a colleague at the local coffee joint. I answer a lot of email, although admittedly while offline, when flying.
Now I’m just as likely to use this downtime for something else productive, like reading a book, engaging in deep thought, or napping, but often I’ll whittle away at my inbox a bit.
5) Don’t use email to procrastinate
If you’ve got work to do, and who doesn’t, don’t use dealing with email as an excuse to procrastinate! It’s easy to do, but email is rarely “real work.”
Email will consume all your time and life if you let it — so don’t let it.
My name is Ted Demopoulos, and I’m an email junkie, but I’ve got it under control! Really I do, trust me.
Ted Demopoulos received his first email in 1979 — before the term email was even coined. He is author of What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting, Blogging for Business, Effective Internet Presence and a bunch of other stuff too. He can be found at www.EffectiveInternetPresence.com and lives on the Internet with his wife, 3 kids, and dog.
译文:
对付电邮轰炸的五条原则
我们都会收到电邮，太多太多的电邮。还记得吗？以前我们收到一封电邮时是多么的兴奋。对了，那时的海景别墅也很便宜。
那时美国在线会有“您有新邮件了”的提示音，好像这是件很值得提醒的一件事。
邮件，大堆的虚拟东西，在今天来说已经是很正常的事了，但是不能让它们牵着你的鼻子走。
以下是对付电邮轰炸最简单的五条原则：
一、限制花在电邮上的时间。
我看电邮一般是在上班前花几分钟，中饭前也许花上半个钟，下班前再花一个小时，睡前也许再检查一下是否有重要的邮件。
上班前看，上班时看，下班后看—这还不够吗？
不要来什么邮件都看，当然如果你已经延迟了那就另当别论。
二、如果有疑问，删掉它。
你没有义务每封电邮都回复甚至是阅读。有时候真的是没有时间，这是事实。
我会尽量多地去看电邮，但如果是不认识的人发过来的，标题又不吸引人，那我就会删掉。
如果是个不认识的人想要做什么，而且一天发几次邮件过来，除非明确提到我的名字，否则我也不会看。对那些称我“亲爱的网管”、“博客朋友”或类似不着边际的称呼的电邮我是不会回复的。
我不看那些我不熟悉的印刷品和电子杂志或全部大写的东西。有时我连自己订阅的并且爱看的电子杂志也不会去看。
在我忙时朋友的那些客套邮件也会被我忽略，虽然我自己也经常给朋友发这种可笑的邮件。
你也许觉得我这样做不够义气，但是我会回复那些虽然不认识的人但写得非常有礼貌的邮件。我每周都会回复二三十封这种陌生人的电邮。
三、记住，电邮并非对所有的沟通都是合适的。
回复邮件你并非一定要通过电邮。
我对有些邮件就用“打我电话”来回复，然后删了它。
有时我用“明天午餐时讨论”之类的话作回复，然后删掉邮件。
通常用两分钟的电话或三分钟的面谈就能解决的问题，用电邮回复就会花上10到20分钟。
按经验来说，如果电邮回复会比邮件本身还长，那么用电邮就不是合适的方式了。
四、在空闲时回复电邮。
我很多时候都是在开车时通过手机来回复邮件的。今天我在等待汽车换润滑油和过滤器时回复邮件，昨天我在本地一个小咖啡店里利用20分钟等同事的时间来回复邮件。当我坐飞机时，虽然我完全不在线，但我也回复了相当多的邮件。
现在我还利用这些空闲时间做其他的有效率的事，比如看本书，沉思，或者打个盹，但多数时间还是用来处理掉我收件箱里的一些东西。
五、不要借电邮来拖延时间。
如果你有事要做，不要拿处理邮件来作拖延的借口。处理邮件很容易，但电邮基本上都不是什么实质性的工作。
如果你不加控制，电邮可能浪费你所有的时间和生命—所以你不能放任它。
我名叫泰德·德莫波罗斯，是个电邮发烧友，但我能让它在我的掌控之中。真的，相 信我。
泰德·德莫波罗斯第一次收到电邮是在1979年，那时电邮甚至还没有什么人知道是什么。他写过《关于博客与播客的秘招》，《开博客做生意》，《在互联网上如何有效生存》等多部作品。他靠互联网养活他和妻子，三个小孩还有狗，在www.EffectiveInternetPresence.com上可以找到他。