Comments on: How to Get People to Send You Less Email

By: SheamsThems

SheamsThems — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:22:15 +0000

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By: Montblanc

Montblanc — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:47:53 +0000

I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

By: Vax SEO Reporting » Blog Archive » Obscenely Belated and Bloated Roundup: The Triumphant Return

Tue, 12 May 2009 18:31:04 +0000

[...] to know how to get people to send you less email? Read this list (or become a deposed Nigerian [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:33:21 +0000

You can see my email category (http://www.whatsbestnext.com/category/productivity/email/). For more info specifically on how to get people to send you less email, the book The Hamster Revolution goes into a good amount of detail.

By: how-to-save-money

how-to-save-money — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:23:07 +0000

That’s an interesting article. I just wondered if you could tell me where to find more info on this topic ?

By: Obscenely Belated and Bloated Roundup: The Triumphant Return : india sem

Obscenely Belated and Bloated Roundup: The Triumphant Return : india sem — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:15:42 +0000

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By: Econs.net Blog » Obscenely Belated and Bloated Roundup: The Triumphant Return

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 11:09:36 +0000

[...] to know how to get people to send you less email? Read this list (or become a deposed Nigerian [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:40:04 +0000

If any of you who commented on this post checked the “subscribe to be notified of future comments” box when you commented, I see that a spam comment was just posted which you might have therefore received.

If you received that spam comment by email, I greatly apologize. I’m going to add a plug-in right now that will add a verification step to the commenting process to hopefully eliminate all future comment spam.

By: Richard Anderson

Richard Anderson — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:43:51 +0000

Karen Renaud et al. provide some guidance along these lines in the Nov+Dec 2008 issue of interactions magazine (see http://interactions.acm.org/content/?p=1194).

By: scottberkun.com » Wednesday linkfest

scottberkun.com » Wednesday linkfest — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:00:34 +0000

[...] How to get people to send you less email. Whenever people complain about how much email they get I generally think it’s their own fault: much of their behavior is prone to getting *more* email whether they realize it or not. Good advice here. [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:29:51 +0000

Adriel: Great question. I would say in general it is best to do one topic per email, but you should adjust some according to the circumstance.

Here’s how I determine going the latter route:

If I start having a bunch of ideas that need to be communicated on a project or topic for a person, then I group them into a single email, rather than sending them a bunch of messages. But this single email still needs to pertain to a larger over-riding theme (the specific project, or topic, or etc.).

I find it painful when someone sends me 5 different emails adding detail to a subject that they originally emailed on. So if it seems like one subject per email is going to feel like that to the person, I group things into a single larger email.

By: Garrett Wishall

Garrett Wishall — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:37:40 +0000

Matt,

I benefited from the article and just took my inbox down to zero from 60-70 in about 30 minutes.

I realized as I was doing this that my desktop is a mess as far as organization. I have stuff all over the place, although, I can usually find it when I need it. More blogs in the future on organizing one’s files: should you have personal, ministry and work files, are these divisions unncecessary, etc. would be helpful.

By: David

David — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:59:11 +0000

It helps when I remind myself that sometimes picking up the phone will solve an issue more quickly, rather than going back and forth with several one sentence emails. If there is any chance that something will be ambiguous (especially when your tone could be misread as rude depending on what you’re saying) I use the phone.

By: David

David — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:58:55 +0000

It helps when I remind myself that sometimes picking up the phone will solve an issue quicker, rather than going back and forth with several one sentence emails. If there is any chance that something will be ambiguous (especially when your tone could be misread as rude depending on what you’re saying) I use the phone.

By: Adriel

Adriel — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:54:49 +0000

It has helped me to sort my inbox by sender because often I will have multiple emails from one sender on a related topic. They forgot something, or got some new information to add, etc. I will answer all three emails in one.
If I’m dealing with multiple topics from the same sender, it gets a little tricky. Some people prefer 1 subject per email to help with sorting and responding. Other people I work with would prefer 1 grand email with a list of everything I need responses on rather than having their inbox bombed.
Any thoughts on which system is better? Or is it both depending on certain circumstances?