The goal is an inbox with “zero,” email consultant Eddie Bader advised.

“Within 24 hours reply, file/archive or delete,” Bader told the joint meeting of the National Fastener Distributors Association and New England Fastener Distributors Association. “If an email is really for someone else – get rid of it.”

“Are you managing your inbox or is it managing you?” he asked.

Bader’s second email recommendation is to be brief. 

“Brevity=Productivity,” Bader advised.

The principal of Companybuilt.com said that if a email gets “that many words then it should be on the phone, face-to-face or an online meeting.”

“Don’t use email to manage projects or tasks,” Bader said. “You frame a house before putting on the roof.”

Email can be a great tool when used appropriately, Bader emphasized. However, just as a circular saw can be a great tool, it also can cut your hand,” he pointed out.

Emails are part of a combination of “people, process and technology that have to work together.”

Bader advocate using FindTime for schedule meetings automatically. Web: Companybuilt.com