E-mail can be a useful tool, but the sheer volume can be overwhelming. This year, about 349 billion e-mails a day will be sent worldwide, according to the market research firm Radicati Group Inc. That total is expected to grow to 507 billion a day by 2013. Here’s how to stem the flow to your inbox:
Be careful about giving out your e-mail address.
When you fill out a form, subscribe to a magazine or enter a drawing, consider whether to provide your e-mail address. Some online “free giveaway” promotions are designed to harvest e-mail addresses for marketing lists.
Use a spam filter.
Many e-mail providers — including Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail — come with built-in protections against unwanted advertising messages.
Think carefully before hitting “reply to all.”
The more people you e-mail, the more e-mails you’ll get back.
Talk.
This suggestion may seem so, well, 20th century. But a single phone call — or simply walking down the hall to the person’s desk — can often be quicker and more effective than exchanging multiple e-mails. Los Angeles Times
