Business

Daily Buzz: Spend Less Time on Email

Responding to emails can take up an unnecessary part of the workday. Change your email habits to save time and be more productive. Also: The American Physical Therapy Association breaks ground on its new headquarters.

Type, send, repeat: The average professional spends about 28 percent of their workday on email. For American workers, that number equates to about 2.6 hours and 120 messages received per day, says Matt Plummer in a post on Harvard Business Review.

To spend your time working toward your goals rather than email, Plummer recommends adopting these habits:

Stop over-checking your email. ”On average, professionals check their email 15 times per day, or every 37 minutes,” Plummer says. “Do most people expect a response within that time frame? No. In fact, only 11 percent of customers/clients and 8 percent of coworkers expect a response in less than an hour.” To save time, he recommends setting aside five to eight minutes every hour to check your inbox.

Cut down on folders. Folders can keep your inbox more organized, but they can slow you down when you’re looking for specific communications. “Search is one fix. Another is email/to-do list integrations,” Plummer says. “Taken together, these methods can save users 14 minutes per day.”

Clear out your inbox. ”When we check a crowded inbox, we end up re-reading emails over and over again. We can’t help it; if they’re there, we read them,” he says. Plummer recommends deleting or archiving emails as soon as you’ve read them. “However, a read email that needs a later response is no longer an email requiring reading; it is a task requiring action. It should be treated as such and moved out of the inbox and onto a to-do list.”

Get rid of irrelevant emails. Don’t waste your time on emails that don’t pertain to you. “To break the habit of processing irrelevant emails individually, use a three-part approach: automated filtering for newsletters you actually use, unsubscribing from those you don’t, and blocking spam and other emails that keep coming after you’ve tried to unsubscribe.”

A New Beginning for APTA

New year, new headquarters: Yesterday the American Physical Therapy Association broke ground on its new headquarters, APTA Centennial Center, in Alexandria, Virgina, which will open in January 2021 for the association’s 100th anniversary.

The building was designed with health and wellness in mind, keeping APTA’s mission close at hand. The center will be LEED Silver certified and receive FitWel’s highest certification.

“Our new headquarters will serve as a continual reminder of APTA’s dedication to health, wellness, and rehabilitation, community-building and collaboration, and social and environmental responsibility,” APTA President Sharon Dunn stated in a press release. “It will be a place where staff, members, and visitors can feel empowered to work toward shared goals in a setting that exemplifies our shared values.”

Other Links of Note

Stressed? Nonprofit thought leader Beth Kanter suggests focusing on these seven strategies to avoid burnout and practice self-care.

Limiting your goals can limit your organization’s progress, from Nonprofit Marketing Guide.

Putting more value on your volunteer program creates more opportunities for people to contribute, says Jeffrey Cufaude from Idea Architects.

(master1305/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Jeff Hsin

By Jeff Hsin

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