by Keith Robinson

Ever wonder what causes that sinking feeling of dread just before you open your e-mail client? Is it the hundreds of new messages that will mock you in all their need-a-response-asap, unread glory?

So far in my series on communication, I’ve mentioned the importance of identifying yourself and how to design your messages. This week I’m going to give you some tips about dealing with your e-mail and doing your very best to respond to every legit e-mail you get in a reasonable time frame.

These tips won’t make you a perfect e-mail responder, and frankly I don’t think that’s possible, but they will make you good. As I’ve heard many times in my life: perfect is the enemy of the good.

E-mail response is very important

I thought about calling this article “Don’t Be A Flake” or something along those lines. It really amazes me how many legitimate e-mails I send out to coworkers, friends and colleagues that ask specifically for a response that never make it back to me. Or they make it back so late it’s not relevant any more.

Every time this happens I remember it and not in a good way. As well, I’ve been called out by people in the past when I’ve dropped the ball. It’s not a good feeling. It looks really bad and reflects poorly on you personally and professionally.

The good news is that there are lots of ways you can improve your response time. The bad news is that because of the sheer amount of junk and spam e-mail we all have to deal with, it can be hard and you’ll most likely never get everything.

Making the effort

The first step is to decide to do better. Recognize you’ll not get them all, but make a concerted effort to do just that.

Set yourself up for success

The first action you should take is to clean up and clean out your inbox. You might be saying, “But, Keith, I’ve got, like, 982 e-mails in there!” I know it can be a pain, I’ve been there, but it’s got to happen. Sort, respond to, delete, archive and/or file every single e-mail in your inbox. This’ll give you a clean slate to start with.

Next you’ll want to create folders to help you sort and file new and future messages. There are lots of ways this can be done, and sometimes it takes some trial and error to get it right for you. It can also be tricky if you’re like me and have multiple addresses.

What I do is have a top level folder for my each of my main alternate addresses. Within these folders I’ve got sub folders broken down various ways, depending on the needs of the address. These folders are for archival purposes only. I use them to store e-mail that doesn’t need action but may need reference.

I then have two top level folders for things that may need action. A “Waiting-Followup” folder for things I’m waiting on someone else for or things that aren’t urgent, and a “Needs Response or Action” folder for things I need to respond to. I’ve got sub folders in these to split things up by e-mail address. I usually mark messages in my “Needs Response or Action” folder for an added reminder.

Here’s what it looks like:

So, once you’ve got folders set up to organize and archive your messages, and you’ve got a clean inbox, you simply need to establish a process and stick to it.

The “always clean” process

The goal of this process is to:

1. Have an empty inbox at the end of each day
2. Keep the “Needs Response” folder as clean as possible

If you can do both of those things chances are you’ll not only be able to respond more quickly, you’ll have a much better idea of where everything is as far as e-mail goes. This gives you the time and focus to address and respond to most email when it comes in (or when you check it). But it’s hard. Chances are you’ll not be able to keep it up on a day to day basis, but that’s ok, just try and do your best. Here’s how:

1. When checking e-mail, do your best to either respond, file, archive or delete every message you read when you first read it. If you don’t do this things will tend to hang around in your inbox. Then they pile up and…
2. If you have to file something that needs a response sometimes it’s good to reply quickly letting the sender know you got it and that you’ll get back to them. This usually eliminates “the re-send” which can become a hassle.
3. If you’ve responded to something late—apologize. People generally know and appreciate that you’re busy and, especially with non-urgent or time sensitive things, they’ll be happy that you responded at all. I know I am.
4. Go through your e-mail at least once a week and respond to anything that’s been left over. I actually try and do this daily with a longer block of time scheduled for the end of the week. What’s nice is that if I’ve done well I’ve got some free time in my work day.

A good system and good filing structure can be just the thing you need to get you to where you can make people who contact you feel really good by getting back to them in a timely manner. Plus you’ll probably be more organized.

A few tips and observations

• Go light on the rules. Too much automated filing can make it hard to know what’s in your archives and you run the risk of losing something important. Plus, I’ve found it makes review and organization much more time consuming.
• Use a separate account and mail program (Gmail is good) for your listserve and announcement stuff. Keeping this stuff totally separate really helps.
• For group addresses, assign someone to triage and do initial responses. Also, try and keep group and individual e-mail boxes separate if you can.

• Check your mail 3-4 times a day instead of every 10 minutes. Going through your mail in bunches really helps.
• When in doubt—DELETE. If you don’t need to keep something and don’t plan to respond, just trash it.

How do you keep yourself from letting e-mail drive you insane? Let us know in the comments or at tips at lifehacker.com.

D. Keith Robinson is an associate editor of Lifehacker. His special feature Getting To Done appears every Monday on Lifehacker.