How to Spend Less Time Managing Emails in Startup Tech Companies

Email can take up a lot of time, but you can take control of it with the right strategies.

Email plays a major role in your startup tech company. You’ll use it to talk to investors, manage your team, and even organize your schedule. But if you’re not careful, it can eat up way too much of your time, ultimately pulling you away from more important tasks.

Thankfully, you can use these strategies to spend less time on email, without ever sacrificing the integrity of your communication:

Turn off notifications. Your first step is turning off notifications. While it’s comforting to feel like you’re in the loop 24/7, most email notifications end up being more distracting than helpful. With notifications off, you can take more control over when and how you check emails; and trust me, if there’s an emergency, someone will call you.
Remain concise. Pay attention to how you’re writing emails. If you always write in sprawling paragraphs, or if you struggle to get to your main point, not only will it take more time to write, you’ll encourage people to write even longer responses. Keep things short and sweet.
Be mindful of your time. Time yourself to see how much time you really spend on email. You might be surprised to learn how long it takes you to write out what you think is a short message, or how long you spend cleaning your inbox of subscriptions you no longer use.
Identify and mitigate problematic sources. Sometimes, the time you spend on email is due to one or more “problematic sources,” who seem to email much more frequently than necessary, or otherwise fail to communicate efficiently. Be direct and polite with these people, and express what you’d prefer to see in future communications.
Train your employees on best practices. Finally, get your employees following similar habits. Teach them the art of writing a concise email, let them know what’s an appropriate amount of time to spend on email, and give them the tools and opportunities they need to write more efficiently.

If you’re interested in more help managing your entrepreneurial communications, contact me today for a free consultation!

About the Author

Jose Vasquez is a serial entrepreneur and tech specialist dedicated to helping startup tech companies grow and succeed. As the founder of Build. Brand. Blast., Jose has worked with dozens of enterprises to find direction, gain momentum, and achieve results.