How to Batch Process Emails

There’s nothing worse than returning from the weekend (or vacation!) and seeing the number of emails in your inbox. Unfortunately, sometimes the number is so high that it can become overwhelming, which causes you to avoid handling it altogether. The one process that has worked for me regarding email management is ‘The Five D’s.’

1. Do – The first “D” is for emails you can immediately address. If the email needs a response and you can write it in two minutes or less, just get it done. But, of course, two minutes doesn’t allow you to craft a thoughtful reply, so only take this approach for concise responses.

2. Delete – This should be the default option. Most email is pointless, and keeping those emails is a waste of time and space. Get rid of spam and stop letting it clog up your inbox. Ask yourself if you will ever need to see this email again. If not, drop it in the trash and move on.

3. Deflect – If you’re not the ideal person to handle this email, pass it over. Delegation is not just for managers. Delegating can be challenging, but if someone else can do a task 80% or more than you, give it to them. A helpful phrase is “there’s no need to CC me going forward,” which helps reduce the traffic in your inbox.

4. Deposit – If the email contains valuable information, file it. Create folders for essential projects and topics. Then, stuff it in the Misc folder we made earlier (or archive it in Gmail).

5. Defer – If you need to do some thinking (or some actual work) before replying, or if the email takes more than 3-5 minutes to respond, create a TODO list item. Then, file the email so that you can refer to it later. If an email requires deferral, move it out of your inbox and into a “parking lot” folder.

Everyone wants an empty inbox. Using this method, you can achieve that. You have to live outside your inbox and make deliberate decisions with your time.

It doesn’t matter how many emails you have; you can use the Five D’s to batch your inbox in 30 minutes or less. I highly suggest giving this a try whenever you leave the office for an extended time.

7 Essential Organizational Tips for Small Businesses

There are so many people who think that their business is organized, but wonder why the business isn’t profitable or growing. If you’re currently in a place where you don’t have the money to hire someone to perform a system audit and get your business in order, here are 7 essential organizational tips that you should implement immediately.

1. Keep Up With Customer Support - This is VITAL. Loyal customers are the heart of your business and what helps you to continue expanding. Customer service overall can be a very tedious task, but satisfied customers/clients typically become returning clients. Customer retention is key here.

2. Have a Password Keeper - It’s so important to have an app that holds all of your passwords. NO, I’m not talking about a Google Doc/Sheet, I mean a real password protecting app. My favorites have been 1Password and LastPass. Another word of advice is to make sure that your passwords aren’t the same for every aspect of your business. Allow the password protecting app to develop the password for you so that it’s unique and not easily hackable.

3. Have a Scheduling System - While it’s easy to think that you know what you have lined up for the week, it’s best to utilize things like Google Calendar. Why? Because life happens. If you’re someone who needs meetings scheduled often, using a program like Acquity or Calendly works best. This will keep you from having to constantly offer your available times to people. Set your hours for calls and let them choose.

4. Take Control of Your Time - It’s so good to clock the hours that you’re working daily. This will help you to better organize your day to ensure that your productivity is at its peak. There are plenty of free options available for time trackers, so be sure to utilize them.

5. Schedule Your Social Media in Advance - Having your social media scheduled out for the week takes so much pressure off of you to keep your social consistency up. You should always be scheduling a week ahead so that you’re not working in time.

6. Spend Time Organizing Your Inbox - Having a clean and easily viewable inbox helps tremendously. Start by creating labels that represent the main types of emails that you receive. From there, file items away that are completed to avoid clutter.

7. Keep a Clean Workspace - There is seriously nothing worse than having to work in a cluttered and busy workspace. Try to ensure that you’re keeping your desk area free of anything other than what is needed at that time. Create a space where everything is easily accessible, but not visible.

If you’re reading the above list and know that it’s not something that you can handle on your own, our agency is here to help. Click HERE and fill out the form so that we know what type of virtual assisting service that you need.