Generating Time

It's interesting when you stop and notice that the very tools that were introduced to office workers to make our lives easier, communication faster and cheaper is costing more in time then it saves!

E-mail was trumpeted as the new communications tool that would surely put first class "snail mail" out of business.  Last year, the U. S. Post Office delivered more pieces of first class mail than ever and e-mails exceeded the volume of first class mailings.  We have created another layer of communicating with one another and an additional responsibility to monitor and manage. 

E-mail is a useful tool but many people feel controlled by this new tool.  The average businessperson is getting around 80 e-mails per day and many feel that about 80% of the messages in their "In Box" are of little or no value.

Spending large amounts of time managing e-mails is a huge waste of resources and the results is we work longer hours or often we find our more important work does not get done in a timely manner.

So, to help you generate more time, have more control and less pressure I have 4 suggestions to enable you to tame your E-mail.

1. Get off the lists. The best way to deal with a problem is to never have it. If you are receiving a lot of unwanted e-mails, ask to be removed from the various lists.  Don't keep emails in hope that you may read them one day - if you can get the information again be ruthless and get your name off the list!  You can always rejoin if you find you really do need the information.

2. "Unlisted address".  Just like getting an "unlisted" telephone number that you share only with those whom you want to give direct access, you might want to get a separate e-mail address that you use only for the important communications you wish to receive.  

3. Limit the number of times and the amount of time you check your email each day. eg every hour for 10 minutes  or 3 times per day for 30 minutes each time.  Many people I work with spend the majority of their day answering emails because it will only take them a few minutes. Before they know it most of their day is gone and they are too exhausted to start work that adds value to their business.  Inadvertently they have given emails priority over all other work. Unintentionally they have guaranteed they work longer days or take work home.

Doing this step alone will enable you to get back a significant amount of time and go home knowing you have worked on what is important and urgent to your business.

4. Make your inbox one way street.  Flagging, changing emails from read to unread is the electronic version of paper shuffling. Take action, move emails you have handled out of your inbox and to their next logical step. Aim to clear your inbox each day leaving only what you have not read yet.  As you open each e-mail do one of the following:
a. if it requires a quick response, respond to it and delete it.
b. If it requires a response but is not the best use of your time, try to think of a way of delegating it. There's a lot of difference between "I do it" and "It gets done".  
c. If it is going to take longer than 10 minutes to do, move the email into the diary for the day and time you plan to undertake the associated work. (This gets the email out of your inbox, out of sight and enables you to concentrate on the work at hand.  You now calmly know that all known work has been accounted for).

Doing this step will reduces multiple handling and procrastination. It also minimizes crisis management by preventing work falling through the cracks.  

I personally receive approximately 100 e-mails per day and by practicing the suggestions above, I can handle that volume in about one hour, taking advantage of this fantastic tool but not being controlled by it to the distraction of more important tasks in my day.