The Email Giant

Anyone who works in an environment that uses email knows how easily this tool can become a slave master. I realized recently that my inbox had become my "to-do" list. As a result I was not using my time based on a set of priorities for the day, but letting email set the pace for my day. This was hurting my effectiveness and frankly it was no fun. This began my search for some productivity tips.

That is when I stumbled on this video from Merlin Mann who is a productivity guru in the online world. In the video he had some really helpful things to say regarding email. The video is called Zero Inbox and is at the very bottom. Be forewarned, it is about an hour. It is totally worth it though. It has changed how I handle email.

Here is what I have found most helpful from the stuff I have read:

• Batch process email - that is to say only handle email at certain times of the day. Some only read email 4 times a day. I have adopted the personal policy of only handling email once/hour when I'm in the office.
• NO email gets left in the inbox - it has to go somewhere. When I process email, they all go in one of 4 spots: Trash Can (becaue I've handled it and don't need it anymore), Archive (because I may need it later but I don't need it in my inbox), Read (to read later) or Act folder (I create a task out of the email and store the email here until I accomplish the task at a later time. It also gets added to my task, but is handled when I designate)
• Another way to think of it is that with every email you do one of 5 things: Delegate, Delete, Respond, Defer or Do.
• Remove all warnings that you just received email - I'm too tempted to look at my inbox when I get the notice.

The great thing about all this is that it has actually worked for me these last 2 weeks. I love looking at an empty inbox knowing everything is processed and handled appropriately. And more importantly I don't feel like my life is being run by Microsoft Outlook. Rather I'm running it.

Focus

I have recently been reflecting on my need to focus more. By nature I'm a little ADD. I do like to keep moving and doing stuff, so it takes quite a bit of effort to just stop and focus on something for very long. There are so many things that feed this tendency.

• Email - it's the worst. With a little sound on my computer I am constantly distracted by new email. It beckons me to "pay attention to me because I am the most important thing you have to attend to right at this moment." Even though a lot of the time it is something that can wait on or a Forward of a joke or a "special offer" telling me how I can get 1 million dollars by sending some stranger $1 or any other number of stupid things that fill up my inbox.
• Interruptions at the door - the culture of Suncrest is that a closed door is just a signal that you need to knock before you interrupt....not that you shouldn't interrupt at all.
  
• A "to do list" that is way, way to big - okay now I'm really sounding like I'm complaining, but it is true. It's way too big.
• Things I want to do - let's face it, we all have things we don't like to do at work but we have to do. Then there are things we want to do, but may not be the most necessary at the moment. Many times I just choose to do the things I want to do instead of focusing on the more important things.
• Going to the bathroom - okay, maybe a personal problem...or maybe I need to cut back on the coffee. Either way, it is a distraction.
  

This is just a partial list, but you get the idea and I am sure you relate. Because of all this I have been digesting some productivity stuff and found some sage wisdom out there. I am currently trying out some of it as it relates to the evil monster of email...and it's working! I will post some of the best advice soon. For now, I felt compelled to just comment on the fact that for all of us the cost is high if we don't FOCUS. Focus gives us clarity to our work. Focus maximizes our effectiveness on whatever it is we are doing. Focus makes us an invaluable contributor to the teams we serve on.