Friday Confession 13: I Ignore A Lot Of Emails

Any working professional will tell you they could be far more creative and productive if it wasn’t for the crushing number of emails they receive on a daily basis.

Email is a love/ hate relationship. I will prove it to you. Have you ever compared notes or complained/bragged about how many emails you receive in a day? It’s ok we have all been there. It’s almost a badge of honor or a sign of importance if you receive more than 100 per day…how about 200?

When that inbox number gets high I admit anxiety sets in. And I do take a machete to them so I can get some sanity. Because what if there is a pearl buried in the sand? It’s not just paranoia…I have sometimes missed really important messages or seen them too late.

I admire those people that can let their inboxes get to over 1,000. I am sure they are prioritizing all the right stuff but I just don’t have the stomach for it.

My approach is to not be afraid to ignore things….sometimes lots of things. There is an art to this and it’s not for the faint of heart. I will never forget when I first started my corporate job after leaving the agency.

One of my first meetings was with the business president. The meeting was long – all day – but I only remember one thing he said in his beautiful British accent, “you would be shocked at the amount of stuff ignore.” I was simultaneously floored and incredibly inspired. Here is a business president, a very successful one saying he ignores a great deal of things.

Friday Confession 13: I Ignore A Lot Of Emails

Which Emails To Ignore And How

If I step back though it makes sense. If we do everything in front of us we aren’t focusing on those things that move us forward.

But it’s hard right? You start your day with the best of intentions and the requests start coming in or something might trigger you to go down a rabbit hole.

The question is what and how to ignore so you can move those big boulders up the hill. Here are some guidelines that I use and they might be helpful to you:

If it’s handled you don’t need to handle it. If a request comes through to you and a colleague or someone on your team and the other person owns it, let them own it and stay out of the way.
Resist the urge to “pile on.” Say your boss sends a note to your peer group and you start to see the replies with a cc to all. Unless you have something value-add and unique to say, avoid weighing in.
You don’t have to be nice. There are some email messages that are somewhere between spam and a legitimate request. In this grey area it’s OK to ignore. It’s not core to what you are trying to accomplish.
Set a filter for cc messages. When my email piles up, one way I cut it back is with a filter for cc messages. Move those automatically into a cc box (aka the black hole) and scan them less frequently. Some email gurus shun the cc entirely but I scan it as sometimes I am in the cc when I should probably be in the “to” line.
Home in on those emails that really require a response from you uniquely. Approvals, decisions and guidance. This will increase your responsiveness.