How to build better email habits
We spoke to two freelancers who don't let their inboxes dictate their schedules.
If you are a human and you use email, chances are you’ve probably let your inbox determine your schedule more than once. Even though it doesn’t particularly make for an efficient work routine, the pull of emails can be hard to resist. As creative freelancers especially, it’s important not to let emails interrupt our creative flow. We interviewed two freelancers to find out how they tamed their inboxes by relying on email office hours and other crafty solutions.
“Every email you answer is often met with a reply”
Marloes De Vries is an award-winning illustrator and writer who lives in the Netherlands. Her website includes a frequently asked questions section in which she explains how prospective clients can work with her. It’s just one of many things she’s done to limit the amount of time she spends on reading and replying to emails.
“Because I quickly feel overstimulated and because I’m very curious at the same time, I try to answer my emails at set times throughout the day. I can get carried away, worrying about what was said in an email and that gets in the way of my creative flow. Every email you answer is often also met with a reply. That means that if you leave your email open all day, you end up emailing back and forth with people pretty much the whole time. Some people like that, but it’s something that keeps me from my work. I benefit from moments of deep concentration and flow.
At one point, I was losing so many hours a day replying to emails that little time was left for actual work. I hired a virtual assistant for a little bit who was meant to answer my emails for me, but when I noticed that she would sometimes let my emails gather dust for up to two weeks, I started handling my email myself again. I have tried out different tactics throughout the years, but I haven’t found the perfect one yet. Email is not my favourite thing to do.
Marloes, drawn by Marloes
On most days, I try not to begin my day by opening my inbox. An email inbox tends to be a long list of to-do items, set by others for you. It’s more efficient to begin your day with whatever the most essential aspects of your work are. That’s why I try to avoid my inbox as much as possible in the mornings, so that my brain is given the space to be creative.
When I have too many emails in my inbox, I sometimes take half or even a full work day to deal with them all, something I did today for instance.
I switched to Gmail 18 months ago and have installed a Boomerang add-on called 'Inbox Pause’. It allows you to block out new emails during a time window of your choice, meaning you’re able to see previously received emails, but you can’t get new ones. The downside is that you can see the number of emails on hold in the sidebar, so it still takes some discipline not to load those emails.
During busy periods, my partner also helps me answer emails. He is able to quickly reply to emails because, to use his words, they “don’t bring out feelings” in him. He looks at my emails in a really objective way.
If you’re someone for whom email is a struggle, I would recommend figuring out which times of day you are the most productive and refrain from checking and replying to emails during those hours. This is precious time after all, and time that is better spent on meaningful tasks, your real work. But everyone is different; finding out what works best for you is a trial-and-error process.
If I could offer two reading recommendations, they would be Unsubscribe by Jocelyn K. Glei and Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. He also wrote another book focused on email called A World Without Email, but that one is aimed at companies more.
“The rules you set for yourself shouldn’t give you more stress”
Senne Misplon, a freelance consultant, lecturer and trainer who focuses on gender and sexual diversity, decided to set email office hours a few months ago. His email signature states that he only checks and replies to his emails on Mondays and Thursdays.
“I was inspired by people with part-time jobs, who would mention in their email signatures that they didn’t work on a particular day. Freelancing is not something I do full-time; I’m also completing a master’s degree at the moment. When I felt myself falling into the trap of obsessively checking my emails a few months ago, I decided to follow their example. It gives me peace of mind to have communicated to clients that I am only reachable on those days. It’s also a way to protect myself as I’m saying to myself that I can only check my email on those days.
Senne Misplon, photographed by Keep Louking
Although my email signature says that I only check my emails on Mondays and Thursdays, I haven’t managed to be that disciplined. I tend to check my emails once a day. But at least my email office hours create the space for me to decide whether or not something is urgent. Because sometimes clients try to decide that for you. It should be the other way round – we should set our own schedules as freelancers and not let others do that for us. When people do really need to urgently reach me, they tend to find a way. They either get a hold of my phone number somehow or message me through social media.
My email office hours are supposed to give me less stress. So it makes sense to be flexible with the rules you set for yourself. Being too strict can have the opposite effect. If I see an email on a Tuesday and I decide to only answer it on Thursday, that email is going to be at the back of my mind for three days. You shouldn’t underestimate the effect of that either as you’re creating more stress for yourself by not answering. So if I have the time, I quickly write back and schedule my answer to go out on Thursday for instance.
My advice to other freelancers would be to try out stuff. Adopting email office hours doesn’t mean you have to stick with them. Maybe they won’t work for you and if that’s the case, let it go. Don’t think you have to follow my example either and only reply to emails on two days. Try things out and see what feels good for you. And be flexible with whatever rules you end up setting for yourself.”