A couple of suggestions not covered on this blog heretofore can help tame the unruly beast of e-mail. They appear in Law Practice, May/June 2012 at 63. The author leads into one practical suggestion – send fewer e-mails – with some data. “For every five emails you jettison into cyberspace, you will receive three responses.” Hence, she writes, for every message you don’t write, you will reduce the flow back by 10%. Simple, but effective.
The other tip, strengthen the subject line, has a new wrinkle. A clear subject line helps your reader, to be sure, but it can also help you make the body of your message more concise. Crystallize the gist of the e-mail in your header and you will have thought more clearly about what you write below it.