People usually have a love/hate relationship with email. It makes it so easy to communicate that… well, it’s TOO easy to communicate! You can process junk email efficiently, but wouldn’t it be better to just reduce junk email in the first place? Here are ten handy steps you can take to reduce junk email by at least 50% immediately.
- Never reply to emails inviting you to REMOVE yourself from their list. Many telemarketers use this ploy to find viable email addresses. By responding to them, you’ve confirmed a live person is at that email address– practically an invitation to get spammed!
- Avoid giving out your primary email address. Treat it like you would your phone or Social Security number. Most companies that ask for your email address (stores, magazines, etc.) are specifically doing it so they can send you email, which will just be junk.
- Unsubscribe from any newsletters or mailing lists that you don’t read regularly. The emails will just back up in your inbox or pending folder and create a mental block. If you need the information you can always go to the company’s website to get it.
- Use the Report spam button in Gmail. You’ll learn all about the benefits of Gmail next, but one of its most powerful features is its ability to filter spam automatically. Most email systems depend on you reporting spam, but Gmail uses sophisticated filters to block spam BEFORE it reaches your inbox. When enough people report a message or sender as spam, Gmail automatically flags those messages as spam for every user… cool! I have found that Gmail makes very few mistakes (maybe 1 in 1,000 messages) so I only have to check my Spam folder about once a week.
- Stop sending email. For each email you write, you’ll probably get at least one email back. For email you send to groups, you could get 3, 10, or even 50 emails in return. So before you send an email, decide if it’s really necessary.
- Pick up the phone instead. We often send email when a quick phone conversation would be quicker and easier. Trying to arrange lunch? Do it by phone. If you must use email, just use it to set up a good time to talk.
- Use an autosignature (which we cover below). It will give people all of your contact information so that they can easily pick up the phone and call you.
- Write clear, concise, short emails. This helps avoid clarification emails in return.
- Use clear subject lines. Emails with subject headers like “hello” and “enjoy” often get ignored. In fact, writing a good clear subject line is often all you need to do– you can skip the email body altogether! Listen to this great podcast episode on the topic from the Get-It-Done Guy (one of my all time favorite organizational gurus!).
- Copy people carefully! If you copy people without thinking, you are not only creating more junk email for them to read, but you risk getting an unwanted response in return… like the deadly “Thanks!” emails. I hate those!
By the way, there are also great ways to reduce physical junk mail that will save you tons of time as well. You can also download and print out a handy guide from the Marin County government in California.
