Opening your email can feel like opening one of those Russian nesting dolls—just when you think you must be at the end, more messages seem to sprout from nowhere. But trying to solve the problem can be daunting. In other words, going on the hunt for email productivity hacks is a productivity-killer itself. With so much advice, where do you start? And what happens when you’re getting mixed messages (pun intended)? Luckily, plenty of actual researchers have put their minds to solving the time-consuming inbox problem with some seriously helpful daily productivity hacks. (Because even they’re not immune to the tyranny of endless email notifications).
Let’s take a look at just how long we’re spending in the inbox-hole and five research-backed ways to get that time back.
How Much Time Do We Spend on Email?
Think your time spent on email is insignificant? Think again. Consulting firm McKinsey estimates that their colleagues spend an average of 28 percent of their entire week in the quest to get to inbox zero. If you’re clocking 40 hours, that’s over 11 hours spent on email per week. And unfortunately, email probably isn’t going away. We’re expected to have sent almost 250 billion emails by 2019, according to an estimate from technology market research firm The Radicati Group.
Even reducing that time by a fraction can give you hours of your week back. Hours better spent on important work. Or with important people. These productivity hacks can help you get there.
5 Email Productivity Hacks To Reclaim Your Time Now
Here are five ways to get in, get out, and get on with your day.
1. Make a motivating routine to push through email pain
We’re not going to even pretend to tell you to get excited about answering emails. It’s not happening; we get it. But you can get excited about something else—and use that as a way through your inbox. The first of our email productivity hacks? Establish a motivating routine. Consistently doing this before starting a task you’re dreading or finding difficult to do regularly (read: finally responding to emails) can help you be more productive, according to research from the Center for Advanced Hindsight.
In the study, behavioral economics researchers looked at the power of a “motivating routine” to help users stick to their exercise goals. Their rituals included stretching, mindfulness, and counting. Across the board, the participants who were assigned a ritual reported exercising more and wanting to engage in activity more as compared to the control group who didn’t have a pre-workout ritual. And these effects were even bigger for those who chose their own ritual as opposed to those who were assigned one. Researchers theorized that having a choice made the ritual more meaningful.
How does this apply to email again? Actually, quite directly. The researchers suggest the findings are broadly applicable. In other words, first doing a motivating ritual like listening to your favorite news podcast or doing a five-minute meditation might help you muscle through the “psychological pain” of getting through your inbox. The choice is yours—which means you’ll reap maximum benefits.
2. Screen your emails to avoid massive time costs
Email often has a hidden, time-consuming cost. Namely, its ability to pull you away from whatever you’re doing the second you see a new message pop up. Even if that message is unimportant. You might not even realize how quickly you’re conditioned to drop everything and open an incoming email. A 2002 study found that 70 percent of emails are opened within six seconds of landing in your inbox. Six. Seconds.
Turns out, those little distractions are probably a lot more costly than you think. Based on a series of studies, researcher Gloria Mark found that switching gears cost people an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to what they were doing pre-interruption. While that might be appropriate for a time-sensitive email from your boss or a response from the client you just pitched, the rest of the non-urgent notices in your inbox probably aren’t worth the distraction.
Instead of answering every email as it comes in, screen by sender and subject line. If it’s not pressing, don’t even open it until you take a designated email break. Which brings us to one of the best productivity hacks for your inbox…
3. Set email “office hours”
Instead of tackling emails as they come in, research suggests that you set up specific “office hours” to address your inbox. Productivity researchers call this “batching”. The technique led to an increase in the feeling of productivity for people whose inboxes routinely get inundated in a 2016 study by productivity researcher, Gloria Mark. Block off chunks of time in your calendar each day to read and respond to those non-urgent emails. But users, beware. This works better at certain times of the day than others.
4. …just don’t make them in the morning
The first two hours after you become fully awake are your most productive, says renowned behavioral economist and psychology researcher, Dan Ariely. Using them for one of the more mindless items on the to-do list (e.g., answering email) is a waste of precious productivity time. In a 2015 Ask Me Anything on Reddit, he wrote,
One of the saddest mistakes in time management is the propensity of people to spend the two most productive hours of their day on things that don’t require high cognitive capacity (like social media). If we could salvage those precious hours, most of us would be much more successful in accomplishing what we truly want.”
This is one of those productivity hacks that requires you to know yourself and your habits. First, figure out when your peak window of productivity occurs and then, protect it. Rather than burning your most efficient fuel of the day on emails, schedule your email office hours during times when your energy naturally dips. For example, if you’re guilty of regularly cruising Instagram as a brain break, use that time to scan through email blasts and newsletters instead.
5. Turn off phone alerts
On the surface, it might seem like getting email notifications on your phone is itself one of the best productivity hacks. This way, you’ll squeeze every available second out of the day while answering incoming emails en route to the bathroom. Well, sure, you could technically do that. But chances are your constantly buzzing phone is more likely to distract you from the task at hand.
A landmark productivity study conducted by Stanford University researchers in 2009 found that people who use more than one device at a time—dubbed “media multitaskers”—are much more vulnerable to distraction. Remember, “just sending one quick response” costs an average of over 20 minutes in distraction time. Pare back your phone alerts to help you stay on track and productive.
To sum it all up…
Improve your focus, get your time back, and boost your productivity all by using a better approach to your email. Keep these science-backed email productivity hacks on hand when you’re feeling overwhelmed with your inbox.
- Create a ritual that’s meaningful to you before doing the inbox dive.
- Screen your emails by subject and sender to avoid productivity-killing time-costs, as in 23+ minutes per distraction.
- Set a specific time per day just for emails…otherwise, stay away from your inbox.
- Schedule that time when your brain is tired. Aka don’t waste the hours your brain works best on email.
- Shut off notifications on your phone/tablet/computer, and use one electronic device at a time for better focus.
Your turn: What are your best productivity hacks for your inbox? Tell us what we missed in the comments.
Want more research-backed productivity hacks? Check out these 72 Tools to Overcome Procrastination + Improve Productivity.
