Cutting down on email...yikes!

[kevkos]

I've decided to cut down on email checking to 3 times a day- 8 am, 11 am, and 4 pm. Before I was one of those people who checked it well over 30 times a day. This is TOUGH, let me tell you. I do plan on cutting this down to 2 times and eventually get to twice a week. I don't think I'll ever do twice a month or whatever Tim does!

And, I have a couple of questions:

1. If I'm getting something from an old email and happen to see my new emails at a non-email checking time, does this count?

2. Does sending and email count as checking? Sometimes I suddenly remember something that I need to send to someone. It seems silly to wait until my designated time to send it....or maybe not!

Thanks for help!

[final_id]

Sending counts as checking. You knew the answer before you asked, didn't you. :) Getting old emails and "noticing accidentally on purpose" that there's something in your in-box also counts.

If you're on Outlook or Outlook Express on a Windows machine, with an Outlook server, do the following:

1. Set up an auto-responder. It's pretty simple in Outlook, IIRC. On the "Tools" menu.

2. TURN OFF THE PROGRAM. Simply close it. Do not re-open it until the designated time. Click the little "X" in the upper right corner of the program so that it is NOT RUNNING. If there's a little boxy thing down in your bottom toolbar (you know, the buttons which indicate what programs are running) or an Outlook icon in the "tray" (the lower-right portion of your screen next to the little digital clock), then the program is STILL RUNNING. Turn it OFF.

Tah-dah.

C'mon, you knew what we were going to say, didn't you. :)

[travelmore]

I was addicted to email. From as soon as I got up to right before going to bed, and like Tim mentioned anytime I was up in the night I would check it again too.

So far, since reading that section of the book I have only checked email twice a day as Tim says. It was AMAZING to not check it this morning. I leave Mail off until it is time (all of them).

You know, reading the quote that no-one expects a reply immediately made sense and I don't really think i am so important that people are waiting for me.
:rolleyes:

Just made sense. TRY it!!!

[ajmastrean]

Can you clarify the sending email limitation? What do we do if we need an answer without committing a violation of our own interruption rules (calling a colleague or walking over).

I understand that by sending, the urge to check may take over, but please explain.

Also, where does IM fit in these scenarios? My company has an internal chat program that I find even more useful than email for short, low interruption questions.

Thanks in advance.

[MikeFromMarz]

Can you clarify the sending email limitation? What do we do if we need an answer without committing a violation of our own interruption rules (calling a colleague or walking over).

I understand that by sending, the urge to check may take over, but please explain.

Also, where does IM fit in these scenarios? My company has an internal chat program that I find even more useful than email for short, low interruption questions.

Thanks in advance.
I would say that IM has similarities to e-mail except more distracting. Not only is it intrusive (pops up on your screen, or at the least alerts you when you have a new message) but it "demands" live response. I stopped using IM about 3 years ago when I found that I'd lose my train of thought/work in progress while it was open. Too much multitasking in the workforce already. Social networking sites like facebook and Myspace probably should have the same (if not more strict) rules as e-mail. Just my 4 cents.

[rlentless]

I agree- IM is more distracting. I have put all but a select few contacts on my "block" list and set my IM to "busy" when I need high focus for a task. If one of the few contacts I have on my "not blocked" abuses the privelege off to the "blocked" list they go. :)

[kamakiri]

One thing that I do that had a huge impact on the time I spend on my email is to keep my in box empty. When you check your mail (once, twice, or many times a day), make a decision within 3 seconds to do one of the following:

Trash
Browse
Read

Then respond to the emails that require a response and trash them. You will find that it cuts down tremendously on the time you spend because you only read your emails once. Before I made this a habit, I had 6 month old emails in my in box. Just a waist of space and time because you tend to look at it many times and think 'I should get to that' and just let the little ember of stress burn endlessly.

As for auto responders, they suck. They are one of the most useless things ever invented. If you are going on vacation, then put one up, but really, you have no need whatsoever to use one otherwise. Unless you can really use them effectively, they are just obnoxious spam.

[MarkWolfer]

Since reading 4HWW I've cut my e-mail checks down drastically. I never check e-mails before 11AM (I start work at 9AM). I work on the most critical tasks of my day first thing in the morning and set my phone calls to go directly to voicemail. I never check e-mails more than five times a day. My goal is to get this down to three times a day by the end of this month and down to twice a day by the end of March.

Each time that I check e-mails I process them completely. I receive about 40 e-mails a day though this number is decreasing because of the effort I'm putting into applying filters and rules to my inbox. I spend approximately 15 minutes each time that I check e-mails depending on the time of day. When I am done checking my inbox is completely empty.

I delete 95% or more of the e-mails by using the following rules:

1) Delete it right away from seeing the subject line and who it is from. If I can tell that I don't need to read the e-mail I delete it immediately. If I think I'll be subjected to many similar e-mails, I create a rule using Outlook that moves these repeated messages to my deleted folder automatically.

2) Read, respond and answer a question or provide what is asked in the e-mail if it will take me 5 minutes or less to do so. Then delete the original.

3) If it will take more than 5 minutes to deal with the e-mail, I drag and drop it into my task folder in Outlook and decide when and how I'll deal with the content of the e-mail. If appropriate I'll reply to the sender to tell them when and how I'll answer them. Then I delete the original.

4) In rare cases where I am expecting to receive multiple e-mails that will help me with a specific task, I'll store incoming e-mails away in a special folder. This is done to help me batch the work. I also assign a task for myself to deal with the contents of the folder on a particular day. Once dealt with I delete all of the original e-mails. An example might be when you've asked for input and comments on a document that you've sent to multiple people. You will received responses at different times but its not worth dealing with each e-mail on their own. Better to tuck them away and deal with them all at once when you've received the last response.


I've spent the last five weeks with a completely empty inbox when I leave work. I have set the calendar as my default view in Outlook and added the 'new message' icon to my Calendar toolbar so that I don't have to go to my inbox when I need to send a new message.


Interesting side note: I have compared the number of e-mails received in an average day between my old life, and since I began this new e-mail regime. I also compared the number of e-mails sent during an average day between these two time points. I expected to see the average number of e-mails received to decrease because of the increased use of rules and filters. This held true, my inbox gets hit about 20% less now than it used to. What I didn't expect though was the 35% increase in the number of e-mails that I was SENDING! I see this as a productivity increase, I believe I am responding to and solving more requests for colleagues and stakeholders than I used to.

The most useful advise that I've been able to successfully apply from 4HWW and 'Never Check E-mails in the Morning' (Julie Morgenstern) has been the concept of spending the first two hours of my day on the most critical tasks planned for that day. I am back in control of how I spend my time during the day.

[shanerbock]

Hi guys,

Here is my take... some people are taking these rules that Tim made a little to absolute. Make your own rules.... HOWEVER, with that said, looking at your email, reading your email, responding, etc... is all part of it and included in my opinion.

I get approximately 200-250 emails per day. I can't handle that many emails, but I also cannot put an auto-responder on my email... I just dont think it is feasible in my particular position. But, you know what, people learn pretty quick when you dont respond immediately to everything that happens. I have been slowly training people by telling them I get too many emails to respond to all of them and that if an issue is truly urgent they should just call me.

I also absolutely do NOT answer any phone calls that I do not recognize the number. I force people to leave a message much of the time, even if I do recognize the number.

Anyway, I just wanted to chime in on this with my experience... Also keep at it, people will learn! just train them :)

Make it a great day!
Shane

[lolpie]

I get approximately 200-250 emails per day.

What exactly do you do that requires 200 emails a day?

[shanerbock]

What exactly do you do that requires 200 emails a day?

I manage software implementation projects totalling anywhere from 2-4 million dollars/Quarter in value. its getting really old.... really fast!

[jimmyinthecity79]

Hello. I am half way through the book and I feel I need to ask this question. I manage the technology for three offices and that includes providing desktop support as well. I find it difficult to not check email consistently throughout the day. I am taking the points to no longer pick up the phone (have it go to voicemail) and then respond to them via email. My job does promote strong autonomy and the ability to do what I want when I am not busy. I can get away with working remotely on some days but when it comes down to it, I need to be here for my staff.

Any ideas? or should I be looking for an exit strategy from this job and how to automate making money?

Thanks for reading.

Jim

[lolpie]

You should work remotely when you can and be working on your muse(s) at the same time. Once your muse(s) take off and you make $x/month you might wanna look into leaving...just my opinion