4 Email Tips to Boost Your Email Productivity

Emails have become a part of our daily lives, 99% of email users check their inbox several times every single day (source: timedoctor.com), but most of us do not really give much thought to how we could be productive in managing our emails. However, there are ways to manage your Outlook. Better management of your inbox and email can improve time management as well as personal productivity. Well, to sum it up, here are some tips on how to boost your email productivity.

1. Use the 5-minute rule.

5-minute rule is a cognitive behavioural technique that is designed to help you to become more productive (source: makeuseof.com). All you need to do is commit to spending just 5 minutes on whatever task you need to do. The 5-minute rule helps you keep the unimportant things off your to-do list. This way, instead of having to divide your energy accross several tasks, you can focus your time on completing important or urgent tasks. It is also a great way to stop you to overcome procrastination. The main rule is that if an email takes less than 5 minutes to deal with, you should do it right away instead of letting it pile up or adding it to your to-do list. By doing this, you can keep your inbox organised and become more productive.

2. Reduce checking your emails to 2-3 times per day.

Another great email productivity tip is to reduce your email checking frequency. Instead of checking your emails every now and then, treat it as a to-do task and schedule specific times in your calendar to check and respond to emails. Instead of spending the first hour of the day on checking emails, you should try to spend it on your morning routine. Also, avoid checking emails during the night as the light might disurpt your sleeping cycle. Two of the best times to check your emails are at late mornings when you might have already completed important or urgent tasks. Another time is at late evening to make sure that you do not forget anything important before leaving the office.

3. Use email folders

If you have not organised your inbox, it can quickly become hard to manage and confusing especially if you have lots of emails. Email folders let you filter what actions you need to take on each email, letting you work more quickly and efficiently. By separating your emails to different folders, you can keep your inbox clean and organized as well as boost productivity by categorizing your emails based on urgency level or priority level. It can also help you to focus on completing your tasks without disturbance.
To create new folder on Outlook, on the left pane of Outlook, simply click "New Folder" in the "Folders" section on the left side of Outlook. Next, in the "Name" box, enter a name for the folder, then press "Enter" (source: itpro, Microsoft Support).

4. Set autoresponder and save your email templates

Let people know that you are checking emails less often to productive, or you are currently occupied with other tasks. You can do this by setting an autoresponder indicating how often or when you will respond to emails. Sending a quick automated response email stating or explaining the situation help solves other people's expectations of getting a response and reduces the possibility of misunderstanding.
Another way to increase your email productivity is by utilizing email templates - so you don't have to create new email every single time. Creating some email templates for general emails and tasks - where you just need to adjust a few details - is a great tip that will help you save time and go through your email faster. Why don't you try using totle's email template feature? With totle, you can create and save email templates you frequently send.

Email productivity is measured by your ability to maximize efficiency and get more done in your inbox in less time (source: Yesware Blog). Email templates are time-saving tools where you save and recycle emails you frequently send for future use. You can use this feature to organise the way you work, increase your productivity, improve communication, boost your workflow as well as save time.

So, now that you know that one way to upgrade your email productivity is by using email templates, why don't you try using totle's email template feature to enhance your work efficiency? All you need to do is install totle program and you can start creating email templates to boost your email productivity.