If you let it, email can take over your life. Or, you can choose to be in charge by taking control of the volume, content, and importance of your email.

1. Filter it! To limit the time you waste reading junk emails and spam, you could use a filter program. This is a system that weeds out emails based on subject lines and content. They can be effective, but use caution. They can filter out too much. Some filter programs will put the questionable messages in a separate folder, which you can review. Of course, that will take some discipline on your part to view the messages periodically and ensure that nothing important was trapped.

2. Determine when to unsubscribe. If you subscribe to numerous newsletters, quotes-of-the-day, etc., take the "consistent" and "significant" test. When the item appears, do you "consistently" read it? That is, do you read most of the issues? Secondly, does it past the "significant" test? Do you read quite a bit of the information and find it useful? If you answered yes to both questions, stay on the mailing list. Otherwise, remove yourself.

3. Prioritize! Make a conscious choice regarding when you'll review email. Once per day may be sufficient for some, while others may need to check for messages several times. Does your job really require you to be glued to the computer screen? In the six years I've been speaking and writing about email communication, I've never found anyone who had to be as connected as he/she thought! Email is an invaluable tool that helps you in conducting the communication portion of your job. You control this tool. Don't stop what you're doing every time a new email arrives. That's inefficient. If you can't resist the mystery shrouding the new message, turn off the tone that tells you a new message has arrived.

4. Make a time management plan. When drafting your plan, remember to include not only the time you spend reading messages, but also the time you spend responding to messages. Personally, when I check email in the morning, I catch myself reading junk mail and typing lengthy responses to friends or colleagues. The next thing I know, the most productive part of my day is wasted. To avoid this, I review my email in the morning and wait to respond to "non-essential" messages until mid-afternoon, which is my unproductive (i.e., "sleepy") time.

5. Implementation. Once you've created a plan for reading email messages, implement it. Any time management plan will be effective if you'll simply use it.

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About the Author

Kelly J. Watkins, MBA, Louisville, KY. Visit: http://www.KeepCustomers.com to order, Email Etiquette Made Easy (a comprehensive guide filled with exercises & examples) or for tips on communication & customer service! (812) 246-2424 or [email protected].