Sometimes your family, friends and co-workers just don’t get it. Your work e-mail account is a tool to do your job, not a source of laughter or inspiration.
Yet, an admin’s Inbox will inevitably be bombarded with all sorts of unwelcome e-mails at one point or another.
So, what do you do? How do you get others to stop cluttering your Inbox?
Start with leading by example. Even if the joke you receive makes you laugh out loud or makes you cry, don’t send it from your work e-mail address. If you feel like you have to share the message, send it after work from your personal e-mail address.
Forwarding these types of e-mails sends the message that you’re happy to receive them, as well.
Another way to get control of this e-pain is to identify the most common source. Usually, you’ll find that the source of clutter comes from one or two people sending you the majority of these time-wasters.
Politely but firmly explain to the person that while you may enjoy some of the e-mails, receiving them at work interrupts your work processes and hurts your efficiency. Ask them not to send any more or to send them to your personal e-mail address.
Finally, it can be worth it to take the time to check the veracity of forwarded e-mails against a website like snopes.com. If the e-mail is an urban legend, let the sender know. Just turning people onto a site where they can check the truthfulness of an e-mail message before sending it to many people in false panic can often reduce the frequency of their e-mails.
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