Caught in the Endless Email Loop
I've realized it's entirely possible -- even likely -- to spend my whole workday in the following endless loop:
1. Open Firefox, where Tweetbar and Gmail automatically load.
2. Catch up on Twitter.
3. Answer pertinent Gmail.
4. Check STBD and PodCamp mail (using, easily enough, MAC Mail).
5. Spend the next 15 minutes answering pertinent emails.
6. Take a break to read SI.com and Newsvine.
7. By the time that's done, there are invariably new emails in all 33 of my inboxes...
So you see the loop, eh?
Half the problem is the overinundation of information. The other half is entirely in my own hands: how do I deal with that overinundation?
The solutions are obvious:
- Allocate a set time to check emails (say, 9 AM, 12 PM and 4 PM)
- Allow myself 10 minutes per hour, tops, to check all 3 email lists
- Disrupt the loop by only taking one Newsvine break per day.
Etc.
Funny thing about life: no matter what you've been trained to do in school, you've almost definitely NOT been trained to productively manage your own time. You want to fix the education system in this country? Start there.
(And follow by improving school lunches...)
1. Open Firefox, where Tweetbar and Gmail automatically load.
2. Catch up on Twitter.
3. Answer pertinent Gmail.
4. Check STBD and PodCamp mail (using, easily enough, MAC Mail).
5. Spend the next 15 minutes answering pertinent emails.
6. Take a break to read SI.com and Newsvine.
7. By the time that's done, there are invariably new emails in all 33 of my inboxes...
So you see the loop, eh?
Half the problem is the overinundation of information. The other half is entirely in my own hands: how do I deal with that overinundation?
The solutions are obvious:
- Allocate a set time to check emails (say, 9 AM, 12 PM and 4 PM)
- Allow myself 10 minutes per hour, tops, to check all 3 email lists
- Disrupt the loop by only taking one Newsvine break per day.
Etc.
Funny thing about life: no matter what you've been trained to do in school, you've almost definitely NOT been trained to productively manage your own time. You want to fix the education system in this country? Start there.
(And follow by improving school lunches...)
Labels: efficiency, email, time, time management, workday, workflow
posted by Justin Kownacki at
11:10 AM
1 Comments:
Sadly, I spent almost my entire day trying to get to the bottom of my email. I had 68 unread when I started the day, not counting read-but-not-actioned mails. I worked all day at it. Right now? 52. Not the same 52. Just... 52. Unread. Not counting the others.
Drowning.
Tim Ferriss says you schedule a time. David Allen says you touch it once and that's it. I'm working on B more than A. More to come.
By
Chris Brogan, at 8:01 PM
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