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Know When to Stop Automating to Manage Email More Efficiently


There are a lot of ways to automatically filter your email, but automation can only go so far. After a certain point, you can actually kill productivity by trying to automatically manage your inbox.

Features like Gmail's filters and Priority Inbox are great for managing your email. The more you try to deal with your email automatically, though, the more inefficient you become. IBM Lotus General Manager Alistair Rennie explains during a recent TechLines panel:

Productivity gets lost in informal work processes and exception processing. Most of the things that go on in email are things that don't have repeatability.

Just like fighting the perfectionist trap, you can only work so long on organizing your messages before the organization becomes the productivity killer. Instead, find the point where you've automated the repeatable issues, and deal with the rest of your email yourself. Of course, sometimes the best way to stay productive is to communicate less in the first place. Hit the link to hear more of the broadcast, and share your own email management tips in the comments.

Techlines: You Can Only Go So Far With Automation [Lifehacker Australia]