Communication is a critical part of leadership. However, managing email can be tedious and frustrating for busy leaders.
In this episode, LZ and I discuss our strategies for email management and reaching “inbox zero.” Leaders will get new ideas about how to manage email, how LZ and I delegate to our virtual assistants, how we prioritize their emails, and a lot more!
Here are some takeaways we shared:
1. Filter through your inbox.
Identify the emails that are subscriptions and are either unimportant or distract from the urgent. Which emails have unintentional importance, which are good things to know, and which ones need your attention?
Get through the minutia and create some filtering so you know how to attack each one.
Email is a fantastic tool for keeping up to date with your team and for connecting with prospects and clients. But you have to start putting some prioritization around it.
2. Try setting a goal of only touching an email once.
If you open an email, you should be trying to handle 90% of them right then. You’re not reading and going on to the next one. You’re taking whatever appropriate action is needed for that email at that time.
That’s how I direct my Virtual Assistant as well.
If an email is opened as read, it is being taken care of at that moment unless it requires additional time, thought, planning, or action. In this case, it might then be moved to a folder that is an action or project folder.
Ideally, you’re touching your email once. You open, read, archive. or filter somewhere for later so that everything is touched once. And your VA knows how to step in and help — and what action needs to be taken to move things forward.
3. What if your life work is your hobby?
Trust the systems you’ve put in place. Trust your VA to handle your inbox. And check out during non-working hours and when you’re on PTO.
Truly disconnecting and spending time not being at work, not being in an email, not thinking about all the things happening over there is just the best gift we can give.
Becoming a great leader means that I have a full life and it’s full of creativity. We can’t be creative or full if we’re lost in an inbox.
What if you could delegate just five tasks to save yourself 15 hours every week?
Sounds counterintuitive, but the less you do, the more you accomplish. Download our Delegation Worksheet to help you get one step closer to inbox zero.