5 professional email mistakes you need to stop making

If you're like the average office worker, email correspondence takes up a big chunk of each day. Sometimes, it can feel like your whole work week revolves around your inbox. After all, it's your go-to tool for communicating with coworkers and clients, learning about industry news, and scheduling phone calls and meetings.

Brushing up on email etiquette

Considering all of the time we spend reading and writing emails, you'd think everyone would be experts at it. But the truth is, most of us are so busy responding to emails that we barely have time to pay close attention to every fine detail of each message. In other words, everyone could use a few reminders about proper email etiquette.

Some of the benefits of email writing best practices are:

• Clarity of thought: Your messages should be easy to comprehend at a glance.
• Engagement: If you want people to respond - and act on - your message, you need to ensure your requests are clear and conspicuous.
• Reception: Like the boy who cried wolf, people who mark every email "urgent" are destined to be ignored.

By keeping your writing simple and to the point, your messages are more likely to be read and understood. This skill is as important for CEOs as it is for interns. Transparent and concise emails benefit everyone.

For more actionable insights about how to avoid common email mistakes, check out our infographic below: