Email like a Boss

Read email in batches

  • Schedule reading at least once per day, what works for you.
    • Expect ~30sec to process every email(=decide what to do with it, see below).
  • Strive for “inbox zero”1—every day.
    • The inbox is for emails you have have decided what to do with yet.
  • If you open an email—make a decision.
    • Action required (takes ≤2 min2)? Do it now
    • Action required (takes >2 min)? Schedule it
    • Action required (but waiting for something/someone)? Set a reminder
    • Action not required? Archive
      • Other emails go into the archive. Also all emails that required action go into the archive after action is taken.
      • I’ve found that just archiving all emails is more efficient than spending time to sort them into subfolder. When you want a certain email, just search for it.
  • In general: Do not answer mails that you’ve been CC’ed on.
  • (Almost) never use “Reply All”.
    • Want fewer emails? Send fewer emails.

Write your email backwards

Sorry I’m writing a long email, but I did not have time to write a short one.

  1. Start with jotting down what you want to say in the body of the email. If it is a really short message, consider using only the subject line, ending it with “EOM” (End of Message).
  • Keep email short, clear, and on topic.
    • ChatGPT can help to make emails more coherent, consise, and to the point.
    • A good rule of thumb is to aim for max 5 sentences. If it is longer than that, email is probably not the right way to communicate.
    • AVOID CAPITAL LETTERS
    • Avoid irony and sarcasm
    • Do not use more than one exclamation mark!!!!!!! Same goes for the question mark???? And dots…….. (what you want here is the ellipsis “…”).
    • Mind your language. Avoid profanity. Be polite, and not overly apologetic (see Figure 1). Use abbreviations, symbols, and emojis sparingly.
Note on emojis

Emojis are meant to convey emotion in writing. Correctly used, they are irreplaceable in making sure your message is read in the intended tone of voice, even in professional email.

Figure 1
  1. Next, summarize message and action-points in the beginning of an email.
  2. Write an accurate (and short) subject line.
  • Consider starting your subject lines with a word such as:
    • Action:
    • Info/FYI:
    • Question:
    • Feedback:
Stick to one topic

New topic? New email.

Do not take the opportunity to discuss a little bit of this and that.

  1. Add the recipients after you’ve written the email, that way you don’t accidentally send an unfinished email.
  2. Read through the email once (yes, once is enough), and correct any obvious mistakes.
  3. Hit send! (or “Send Later” if you work outside office hours)
  • CC can be viewed as ”For your information”
    • If you put someone in CC, you don’t expect them to answer. It is either not actionable for them, or not directly related to them.
  • Don’t overuse CC. Everybody does not need to know everything.
CC & BCC

CC = “carbon copy”. Back in the days before internet and email, in order to create a copy of the letter you were writing, you had to place carbon paper between the one you were writing on and the paper that was going to be your copy.

BCC = “blind carbon copy.” It’s called blind carbon copy because the other recipients won’t be able to see that someone else has been sent a copy of the email. While you can see a list of recipients when CC is used, that’s not the case with BCC. No one ever sees the BCC list. A BCC can reply to the sender, but other recipients can’t send to BCC recipient with “reply all”.

Do not use email for these situations

  • When you require a quick answer (call them or go face-to-face instead)
  • When you want to give negative feedback (go face-to-face instead)
  • When you need to deliver bad news (go face-to-face instead)
  • When you are angry/emotional (write a draft and send later instead)

Footnotes

  1. an empty inbox↩︎

  2. or other amount that works for you↩︎