The wonderful and evil inbox

Yesterday we discussed how to save a lot of time and energy while increasing efficiency by simply allowing the answering machine to take your calls and answering them at scheduled times.  I realize that not everyone is in a position to do this depending on the type of business they are in.  Remember, you can apply the concept to your personal life as well.

So, to the next black hole in your time management dilemma …

The wonderful and evil email inbox.

Start by only looking at your emails at specific times during the day. 3 to 4 times is likely enough for most people at work … when you arrive, after a break, after lunch and after afternoon break, about ½ hour before you leave. Not taking breaks?  Tssk. Tssk. We’ll get to that another day.

• Have a scheduled time(s) blocked off to check email. Within that time:
• First, do a quick scan for emails you are waiting for.
• Respond quickly and efficiently to those.  If they need research or more work, respond and say you have received the email are looking for the details and will send them asap.
• Delete all items that appear to be junk that were not caught by your spam filter.  Don’t be tempted to open and read them.  You’ll be sorry … they’ll waste time and could mess up your system which will waste even more time.
• Do a quick check through what is left (the delete should have narrowed them down to a manageable amount) and send short responses to them.
• Try not to get tempted into clicking on embedded links within emails unless they are work related.  All of a sudden, you’ll look up and an hour (or more) will be missing from your day.  The internet has a way of sucking you in, not unlike the Bermuda triangle.
• Do not get involved in answering personal emails at work – you’ll automatically respond at an emotional level increasing stress and decreasing efficiency. This starts a cycle of panic because now you are behind on your work that has a deadline.  Personal emails should be kept that way – personal and not on work time.
• When your scheduled time block is up, you know that the important emails are looked after so you will be less stressed.  The rest can wait until your next scheduled check-in time when you repeat the routine starting with completing items you promised to send out in the previous time block, followed by important and expected emails as a priority.
• Repeat as often as you need depending on your particular situation.

I already know the big question that’s on the way but I’m not going there today.

To your efficiency….

Sue Crutcher, Baby Steps to Success