Business today is becoming more and more reliant on e-mail. While it is an excellent form of communication, it can also be a huge drain on productivity.

Did you know that inefficient use of e-mail can waste up to two hours per day? Now, multiply that by the number of people in your organization. 

Many of my clients report spending four hours or more on e-mail each day! Here are five simple ways you can streamline your e-mail and save yourself some time.

1. Keep your emails short. I like the website http://five.sentenc.es/.  It suggests that you should keep your email to five sentences or less. At five sentences, a person is more likely to read your email fully. People tend to skim longer emails, or stop reading them all together. Think about what you are trying to convey and boil it down to five sentences or less.
2. Organize your thoughts. In the fast paced world, email is often casual and haphazard. It is very important to organize your thoughts before you communicate with someone to avoid misunderstandings.
3. Make key points stand out. Highlight, bold or underline important ideas and dates. If someone is skimming your email, you want their eye drawn to the important information. If there are multiple points, use bullet points.
4. Send clear requests. Be clear about what you are requesting from the person. Often times I receive emails full of information with no clear request. What is it that you want me to do? Read and respond, make corrections, approve? If the recipient is unclear about what you want, they will often do nothing. Clearly define what you need from the person. Make the request easy to see by putting it in the first line of the email or bolding it.
5. Create templates. Is there an email that you send out regularly? Why not make an email template? In programs such as Outlook, you can create a custom template in the time it takes you to “save as”. Templates are great for mobile devices as well. Save a few commonly sent phrases or paragraphs and save yourself some time.

Erin Hoffman is the president of ORGANIZE Coach, a San Luis Obispo-based business. She helps busy professionals and businesses save hours of wasted time each week by showing them how to use their e-mail and their to-do list effectively. One-on-one coaching and group training is available. For more information, contact Erin at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (805) 602-2096.