Write shorter emails

Mike Davidson finally grew tired of emails. He received quite a lot of emails and the handling and processing of them took more time than he was willing to spend. He did not dislike emails as a means of communicating — they do have their advantages. But, do they have to consume so much time?

He gave himself a challenge: from now on, he was going to write shorter emails. Every email was to be composed of five sentences or less. To support himself in this endeavor he created the tiny website five.sentenc.es, where he explained what he had decided to do and to which he could link in case a receiver of his emails wondered why he had such an offhand tone (“Was it something I said? Something I did?”).

For you who prefer listening to reading, this post is also available as an episode of the “Done!” podcast:

If me, then maybe you?

I am drawn to Mike’s idea — partly because I spend a lot of time answering emails, and partly because I am aware that sometimes I write more than what might be necessary. That is why my emails are now shorter than before — not always a strict five sentences (because who wants to be rigid and dogmatic?), but I try to keep approximately that length.

Do this

If handling and processing emails take up more time than you would like it to, do this:

Decide to write short(er) emails.
Set a maximum limit for their length. Mike aimed at five sentences, but for those even more radical, he also created the websites two.sentenc.es and three.sentence.es.
If you want to, add the link to one of the sentence.es-websites in your email signature as an explanation for the abbreviated formulation (I choose not to, though).
Try to stick to the maximum number of sentences for a week and evaluate how you did (and what it was like) when you receive the next Done! from me in a week.

I will not always write short emails from now on since I sometimes really enjoy writing more extensive texts. For instance, I normally write a long response to emails from my listeners and readers because I find it important to be detailed and thorough when I share tips and tricks.

But, at times like these, when I have got a very intense traveling- and lecturing schedule, I will embrace this challenge to make my workday a tad easier.

Less emailing, more possibilities

If you write shorter emails, your emailing will simply take less time. You will send the emails faster and you will get more time doing things not concerned with composing or responding to emails.

How do you do it?

How do you simplify and make your emailing more effective? Have you got a trick or some kind of rule of thumb? Feel free to share it with me!

(Also, it’s really helpful to write clear subject lines when emailing!)

There's even more!

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If you want more tips on how to create good structure at work, there are many ways to get that from me - in podcasts, videos, books, talks and other formats.

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