Email has become an integral part of how we communicate with our friends, family, colleagues and clients every day. In fact, email plays such an important role in our lives that many of us are tempted to say that we’re addicted to it. But just how much time do you spend on email? How much of your workday is spent getting and responding to emails? The truth may surprise you…

What time is it?

It’s the time of day when you’re most productive, but also the time of day where your to-do list is longer than a grocery list. The time when you need to delegate weaknesses and delegate tasks to other people on your team.

You can’t do it all yourself and by delegating, you’re able to create more opportunities for yourself that will allow you to grow your company.

Too much email (part 1)

It’s no secret that email is a huge time suck. Even if you’re good about getting to your emails as soon as they come in, it can be hard to get them all done. The problem is that many of us have trouble delegating the weaknesses and focusing on our strengths. After all, there are only so many hours in the day for us to manage everything!

Wasting time on email

I’m not proud to admit it, but I used to spend at least two hours a day on email. As an entrepreneur, this was time that I could have been using for more productive activities like finding new clients or brainstorming marketing strategies. Over time, I realized how much my productivity suffered because of this.

One way that helped me manage email better is by delegating my weaknesses.

Boundaries

It can be hard to manage time with email because it’s so easy to get distracted. But not all email is created equal and you can create boundaries for your inbox to reduce the number of distractions. Here are three tips for staying focused on what really matters:

• Turn off notifications from social media apps, news apps, and other time-sucking websites.
• Avoid opening emails or clicking links in spam messages that could lead you down a rabbit hole of distraction.

Delegating

One of the keys to managing your time is delegating. When you delegate, you are essentially handing over a task to someone else so that it can be completed by them instead. This can save a lot of time and energy because it may require less attention on your behalf. Plus, when you delegate, it allows you to focus on other tasks that are more important or require more immediate attention.

Process your inbox first thing in the morning

Processing your inbox first thing in the morning is a good way to start the day with a clean slate. Check emails, delete junk and unsubscribe from emails that aren’t relevant to you. If you’re using Gmail, set up tabs for Primary, Social, Promotions and Updates.

Priority labels and folders help you manage your emails

Priority Labels and Folders can help you manage your emails. Use the labels to set the priority of your email. For example, if an email needs a response in two days then label it Important. If an email is only informational, or needs a response in three months then label it Low Importance. Once you’ve labeled all of your emails, create folders for them based on what they are.

Check email only at designated times, if possible

Let’s face it, email is a necessity in today’s world. The problem is that many people are checking their email too often and as a result, they’re not getting anything else done. If you can’t stop checking your email, try looking at it only at designated times during the day so that you can have time to complete other tasks.

Learn from your mistakes

I think a lot of us are guilty of spending way too much time emailing back and forth. We spend more time reading emails than we do responding to them and it can be a huge distraction. If you want to successfully manage your email, try the following