Too Much Email? You Need Five Sentences

five.sentenc.es is a personal policy that all email responses regardless of recipient or subject will be five sentences or less. It’s that simple.–source

If you are a part of a large ministry organization this may be impossible. You can however commit to five sentences as a personal challenge, blog about it, tweet it out, etc.

I loved this quote from the five.sentenc.es site:

“Treat all email responses like SMS text messages, using a set number of letters per response.”

Tight constraints can take time to adjust but often produce focus and creativity.

Here are some specific tips for refining your email communications (source):

Subject Line: If the entire email fits in the subject, put it in the subject.

Body Text: Put a blank line after every point, which usually means after every independent thought.

Replying: If you want to have a discussion, don’t put it on top of the message. Reply to its points.

Getting a prompt and efficient response: If there are things that the recipient must do, place them up top instead of burying them in the body.

Do you have an email policy? Or suggestions for keeping emails short?

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