Tim Ferriss is right -- we need to take control of our email life!
How many times a day do you check your email? Are you working with a hair-trigger set, where an email can arrive and interrupt whatever you are doing?
Unless you are in the instant-response business (not one I'd choose to be in), you are torturing yourself unecessarily. If you want to take back your life, try this: Check your email three times a day and block out thirty minutes per session to answer them. Try 10am, 2pm and 4pm (just like the old Dr. Pepper ad).
While this might sound scary, you'll quickly find out that you are not missing out on anything except constant interruptions. Eventually, you'll wonder why you checked it so often, and how you ever got anything done!
Buy a copy of my new DVD, The Dirty Dozen Rules Of Email Etiquette
P.S. Looking forward to the John Maxwell conference this year, and was bummed to not see you in the line up!
Posted by: Luke Rumley | February 29, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Right on! I think I have mentioned GTD and Inbox Zero enough on this blog already, so a tip for Outlook users this time: turn off new mail notifications (those little popups that come on to your screen and fade out after a few seconds).
Of course, it isn't easy to find...Click Tools -> Options -> E-mail Options -> Advanced Email Options -> Uncheck "Display a New Mail Desktop Alert" checkbox.
This keeps that compulsive click-on-the-new-email-as-soon-as-it-arrives behavior at bay.
Posted by: Luke Rumley | February 29, 2008 at 10:34 AM