iPad in businessE-mail is a distraction
07/03/17 14:36 Filed in: Technology
Several ways to control the time you spend on e-mail.
Why bother?
E-mail is time consuming and distracting. You start an important project and inevitably your e-mail goes 'ping' (or whatever other annoying noise it makes).You look at the e-mail, possibly answer it and then spend another 10 minutes remembering where you were in the important project. 'PING' and off we go again in the never-ending loop.
The most annoying thing is that 90% of the time the e-mail is nothing to do with the project - or even important at all.
A solution is to switch off all notifications on your e-mail app of choice and then follow these three rules.
1. Check your e-mail only 2 times per day.
You should check your e-mail a couple of times a day. Once in the evening and once at another time. First thing in the morning? Lunch time?
The e-mail check before the end of the work day allows you to select e-mails to be dealt with in the following day's schedule.
The potential problem with waiting until lunch time is that there may be an urgent issue which needs attention first thing in the morning.
The problem with checking first thing is that your workflow for the day is immediately disrupted.
My own thoughts are that you should have a priority list of work for the day and you should start working through this list at the start of the day. A time slot around noon should be kept for the first look at your e-mail.
If there was something that needs urgent attention then an automated reply on your e-mail directed to a colleague saying "if your query is urgent please contact xxxx at xxxx@e-mail.com"
This work routine is difficult to stick to but could save lots of time.
2. Clear your inbox daily (inbox empty)
Don't allow any messages to be in your inbox at the end of a day. Do something with every e-mail in your in box.
You can delete the message if it does not merit a reply, respond to the e-mail immediately or send a holding reply and move the e-mail from the inbox to a to-do box or list for future processing.
You have to be firm in your resolve to delete e-mails. You will find that there are many e-mails that do not really need a reply. It is only through a misplaced sense of need that vast amounts of time is wasted on replies to these e-mails (or even looking at them).
For e-mails that are selected for immediate answer, the responses should be short but to the point.
The e-mails that cannot be dealt with immediately should be moved from the inbox to a to-do to list. The to-do list should be prioritised and annotated. If further information is required to answer a request this should be requested immediately.
3. Be proactive with e-mail
Use a spam filter to ensure your inbox is not cluttered up with the worst kind of junk e-mail.
Also try to train you work colleagues to refrain from sending frivolous e-mails. These are junk!
Create rules to send e-mails directly to relevant folders, calendars or archives. For example, notifications of meetings can be sent to a "meetings" folder. These e-mails are not to be forgotten but are to be acted on at an appropriate time.
Deal with Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other social media notifications in a similar way. (predominantly as junk!).
You will probably find it difficult to adopt these methods but the benefits of doing so will include greater efficiencies and time savings.
Try it for a month and see how you get on.
Why bother?
E-mail is time consuming and distracting. You start an important project and inevitably your e-mail goes 'ping' (or whatever other annoying noise it makes).You look at the e-mail, possibly answer it and then spend another 10 minutes remembering where you were in the important project. 'PING' and off we go again in the never-ending loop.
The most annoying thing is that 90% of the time the e-mail is nothing to do with the project - or even important at all.
A solution is to switch off all notifications on your e-mail app of choice and then follow these three rules.
1. Check your e-mail only 2 times per day.
You should check your e-mail a couple of times a day. Once in the evening and once at another time. First thing in the morning? Lunch time?
The e-mail check before the end of the work day allows you to select e-mails to be dealt with in the following day's schedule.
The potential problem with waiting until lunch time is that there may be an urgent issue which needs attention first thing in the morning.
The problem with checking first thing is that your workflow for the day is immediately disrupted.
My own thoughts are that you should have a priority list of work for the day and you should start working through this list at the start of the day. A time slot around noon should be kept for the first look at your e-mail.
If there was something that needs urgent attention then an automated reply on your e-mail directed to a colleague saying "if your query is urgent please contact xxxx at xxxx@e-mail.com"
This work routine is difficult to stick to but could save lots of time.
2. Clear your inbox daily (inbox empty)
Don't allow any messages to be in your inbox at the end of a day. Do something with every e-mail in your in box.
You can delete the message if it does not merit a reply, respond to the e-mail immediately or send a holding reply and move the e-mail from the inbox to a to-do box or list for future processing.
You have to be firm in your resolve to delete e-mails. You will find that there are many e-mails that do not really need a reply. It is only through a misplaced sense of need that vast amounts of time is wasted on replies to these e-mails (or even looking at them).
For e-mails that are selected for immediate answer, the responses should be short but to the point.
The e-mails that cannot be dealt with immediately should be moved from the inbox to a to-do to list. The to-do list should be prioritised and annotated. If further information is required to answer a request this should be requested immediately.
3. Be proactive with e-mail
Use a spam filter to ensure your inbox is not cluttered up with the worst kind of junk e-mail.
Also try to train you work colleagues to refrain from sending frivolous e-mails. These are junk!
Create rules to send e-mails directly to relevant folders, calendars or archives. For example, notifications of meetings can be sent to a "meetings" folder. These e-mails are not to be forgotten but are to be acted on at an appropriate time.
Deal with Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other social media notifications in a similar way. (predominantly as junk!).
You will probably find it difficult to adopt these methods but the benefits of doing so will include greater efficiencies and time savings.
Try it for a month and see how you get on.