APU Careers Careers & Learning

Bad Habit Slimdown, Week 1: Skipping Emails

By J. Mason
Online Career Tips Editor

For all you competitive folks I have a new challenge for you in the office, or in the field, for 2013. Every week I will be presenting a new challenge to overcome your bad office habits. It takes 30 days to break a bad habit, so don’t be shy if you need a month to rid yourself of it. To start this off right I have chosen email skipping as the first bad habit to break for 2013. While you settle back into a routine after the holiday break there’s no doubt you’re still sitting on a mountain of emails. Let’s break this bad habit down, email by email.

Avoiding your email is pretty common. Unlike an office walk-by, it can’t tell if you’re sitting there and chose to avoid it. Give every email that enters your inbox a fair shot of being read. Create an email process, if you haven’t already, for screening and filtering emails.

  1. If it’s flagged as a high priority check it within the next 15 minutes.
  2. Respond to regular senders within the next couple of hours.
  3. For new senders, read and respond within the hour; don’t miss out on opportunities to network.
  4. Scanning long emails is fine, look for key points.
  5. Read everything! Don’t miss new items in your department, or actionable items hidden in the text.

There are a couple of wildcards when it comes to emails, those are typically from third party vendors. It is OK to skim these items, but look at them before you delete. If you are a content generator you could be missing out on some good topics, or new software to help increase your bottom line.

Starting today stop skipping emails. Each email you receive had some level of thought from the sender, so be courteous in giving their email the chance to be read by you. Be thoughtful in your responses, and make sure you’re timely when sharing your feedback. Good luck this week, and let us know how you’re doing with the challenge below!

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