Happy New Year to all of the MyWeb4Ed readers!
- Write a great subject line
- Turn off automatic notifications
- Set aside specific times for email
- Only write one topic per email
- Create 4 folders: Backlog, To-Do, Hold, and Archive
- Add a meaningful automatic signature
- Flag your email when you need to follow up
Take them one day at a time and before you know it, you’ll be at your 30-day email management goal!Delete
Delegate
Defer
- Do it by taking care of the request, replying to it, or whatever is needed. The rule, remember, is if it can be done in 2 minutes or less, just do it and get it out of the way. Then, move the email to your Archive folder.
- Delete it if is of no use, junk mail, will never be needed, etc. This goes to the Trash to be forgotten.
- Delegate it to someone to complete, follow-up, reply, or whatever is necessary. You may need to Forward this and then put it in either Archive or Hold (if you need to check that it is complete).
- Defer it to your Tasks or To-Do list. This means you need to flag it, put it on your calendar, or do something so you know that it still needs to be done but it may take more than 2 minutes so it will be set aside.
It is so tempting to begin one of the “to-do” tasks in the middle of your email routine but fight the urge and stick with the process until your inbox has been cleared and your items are either placed in Archive, Hold, To-Do’s, or Trash.
Remember, once you have weeded through it during your designated email time, then don’t go back through it until your next planned time to deal with email. Instead, move on to some of the tasks or other items you have to work on in your normal day. Those emails will be there the next time your designated email time arrives!
By the way, don’t forget to apply this to your Backlog folder. Do you remember this folder? This is the one that we set up previously to hold the inbox items that had built up until we had time to weed through them. Now, go back to that folder and apply the 4 D’s to those items! When your backlog folder is empty, delete it! You’ll never need it again for this system!
Carol Mortensen has nearly twenty-three years of educational experience. She began as a substitute teacher as she worked toward her degree. Upon graduation, Carol began teaching middle school Math and Algebra I and served as the technology liaison for her campus. She served as a teacher for 16 years and was lucky to have taught at Hillcrest Middle School, a 1:1 campus where every student was issued a laptop computer. She also worked as an Instructional Technology Trainer for her district providing training and technology integration support for campus and district staff, faculty and administrators. Currently, Carol enjoys her position as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist for Deer Park High School – South Campus. Before taking this position this year, she served for three years as the Campus Technology Integration Specialist at Fairmont Junior High in Deer Park Independent School District. In this position, Carol provides integration support and training to the students, staff, faculty, and administrators at the campus and district level. In addition, Carol is an online Math instructor for Aventa Learning and K12. The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) named Carol the Classroom Teacher of the Year for her innovative and creative use of technology to create a 24/7 virtual classroom using her classroom website. Carol has presented at school districts throughout Texas as well as state and local conferences on a variety of technology integration topics. Her article on the use of websites as an instructional tool was recently published in the TechEdge Magazine. In February 2011, her article, Lessons Learning In a 1:1 Classroom, was published by TechEdge. The article was republished in ISTE’s Learning and Leading magazine in August 2011. She was named Fairmont Junior High’s Teacher of the Year for the 2011-2012 school year. Carol is passionate about the positive impact that technology has on student achievement. Her presentations are packed with real-life solutions, quality resources, and humor. She has an ability to connect with her audience and motivate them to take technology integration to a higher quality level.
