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Time Management -
Time Management (M)
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With e-mail now the most popular method of communication, it is important to become as efficient as possible while retaining clarity of purpose. Here are five suggestions for writing and sending e-mail. If they make sense to you, implement them immediately. 1. Limit each e-mail message to one topic only. It makes it easier to file under a specific topic and retrieve later. It will usually result in a faster response to your message as well. If you ask two questions on unrelated topics, for instance, the person usually won’t reply until they have answers to both questions. 2. Use a heading that summarizes the message and grabs the reader’s attention. You want to motivate the receiver to open your e-mail message rather than to delete it. And with chains of correspondence, remember to change the header as the topic changes. 3. When sending e-mail to a group of people, BCC everyone to keep the file size down. Also, you may not want to reveal your mailing list to everyone, nor force them to scroll past a bunch of addresses to get to your message. 4. Stay away from attachments where possible. Cut and paste shorter documents into the message section instead. When you do include an attachment, do so before addressing the e-mail so you won’t forget to attach it. And zip large files before attaching them to speed up delivery and reduce download time. 5. Be conscious of the fact that people get too much email. Don’t send an email if you will be talking to the person later. Send only to those people who need the information. And resist the urge to click the “send to all” button when only one person is interested in your response. If you are brief, use short sentences of 15 words or less, short paragraphs, avoid abbreviations, jargon, acronyms or emoticons, and write with the reader’s interests in mind, you will be part of the solution to email overload.
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