In this video, I talk about how easy it is to get distracted, and how I aim to work SMART with my time. What works for me is to work on a big task, first thing. This could be to write a chapter of a book, or work on some client work. I then check emails perhaps a couple of hours later. Anything that is not work-related goes into my READ LATER folder.
Client work I deal with right away. Often, they are short tasks, but if a more complex task I will email my client and give an update on when I will respond and I schedule some time to work on this.
I then only check emails a couple of times a day, this gives me so much more free time.
Most emails are redirected to the read later folder and I may only review this once a week. The good thing about this is that I can see who is emailing me every day and unsubscribe. I also give myself a limited amount of time to read these emails. I work fast, most can be skimmed and deleted. I keep many subscriptions to things I delete as I want to check I’m not missing out on anything.
If you are an employee could you set up an auto message to say you will just check emails 2ce a day and ask people not to copy you in on emails. Take it one step at a time – for me, the first task was to set up the READ LATER folder, and the second was to stop checking emails first thing.
I’d love to know if you find this helpful. Feel free to post a message below.