Time Management Tips –
Email and Telephone
Self Learning Guide
Used with permission
TIME MANAGEMENT TIP SERIES
Managing e-Mail and the Telephone
Are you overwhelmed by the number of e-mail messages in your Inbox? Are the messages the pile
up becoming a constant source of stress and distraction for you? Use the following helpful hints to
manage email overload.
MANAGING E-MAIL
Step 1: Keep unnecessary e-mail to a minimum
• Remove yourself from lists you don’t really need to be on.
• Delete the unimportant messages you really don’t need to keep.
• Sign off with “no reply needed.”
• Use e-mail “rules” to automatically sort your e-mail into folders.
• Choose specific times each day to read and reply to your e-mail, and do so only during those times.
• Clear your emails twice a day; don’t let incoming e-mails pile up. Keep your Inbox as empty as possible.
Step 2: Keep your Inbox clean of non-action messages
• Decide which e-mails are “information only” and which are “action” messages.
• File “information only” messages away immediately.
• If you can handle an item in less than 2 minutes, do it now.
• If it will take longer than 2 minutes, use a follow-up flag or schedule a time to
handle it and file in electronic folders by topic or by person.
• Use “to” and “cc” correctly.
• Clarify the nature of the email by adding to the subject line either:
“Action requested,” “FYI”, or “Please Reply.”
Step 3: Don’t let priority “B” e-mails pull you away from your priority “A” activities
• Turn off all bells and alarms for incoming mail.
• Ask yourself, "If I weren't reading and answering e-mail right now,
what would I be doing?" (If it's something more important, then stop reading your e-mail!)
• Schedule specific times throughout the day to read your e-mails instead of reading
them as soon as they arrive.
MANAGING THE TELEPHONE
We often waste time with the telephone because we don't plan our calls properly or don't use voicemail
effectively. The following are tips to help you manage the telephone effectively.
• Plan your calls: make a brief note about what you want to say and what you want to find out.
• If you have several phone calls to make, do them all at once.
• If a person asks you to hold, have a task available for you to work on while you wait.
• If the person you are calling is unavailable, find out the best time to call back, or leave your number
• If you are leaving a message, suggest the most beneficial time to call you back in order to avoid
the dreaded “telephone tag”.
Learning and Development © 2010
University of Victoria 1