Less Is More

Let me go out on a limb here and make a blanket statement: long emails suck. I wince when my preview pane is insufficient to give me a sense of the contents of any incoming message. When I double click on the email and glance down the length of the the body, a sense of dread sets in when I realize I'm going to be using the scroll bar. "Thanks for the novella," I think to myself if I'm in a particularly bad mood. I actually groan audibly if it includes attachments.

According to a recent study by McKinsey Global Institute, the average American worker spends 28% of the workweek reading and answering email. Roughly a third of your workday is spent on the futile task of trying to empty your inbox, so the longer the email, the more likely it will interrupt your rhythm and slow your workflow.

Stop the madness. Be part of the solution.

Entrepreneur.com recommends that you limit the contents of your emails to five sentences or less. It will not only help to reduce your email time, it will also increase the chances that your message is read promptly by the recipient. I have applied this strategy to the blog you're currently reading since its launch in 2010. My readers often tell me that its brevity contributes to their likelihood to read the posts. Apparently the adage is true: less is more. And if you agree with Entrepreneur's email advice, six sentences is one too many.