|
Email
is one of the greatest innovations of the online world,
but if you’re not careful it will suck up your time,
and be a far detriment to your business than a benefit.
Here
are some tips for taming the email beast.
Turn
It Off
During
the day when you’re working, turn off your email
client. You don’t need to be connected to everyone at
all times of the day. If you leave your email client
running while you’re trying to work, as soon as that
next new message comes in, you’ll get distracted. The
constant barrage of new incoming email will break you
concentration and make a project that would normally
take only an hour of focused attention take four or five
times as long.
Check
It Infrequently
Once
you’ve managed to turn your email client off, resist
the temptation to keep turning it back on all day.
Checking your email once or twice a day is plenty –
really.
Schedule
Email Time
If
you typically get a lot of email correspondence that you
need to reply to throughout the day, then schedule half
an hour or an hour as replying to email time. Take care
of all the email you need to reply to at once. You’ll
find that by being able to put your focused attention to
taking care of email, your replies will be thought out
better, and you’ll be able to get all of your email
taken care of far more quickly and efficiently.
Spam
Filters
A
good spam filter really can be a productivity tool.
Fortunately, they’re readily available and
surprisingly accurate these days. Put one on your inbox
so that you’re not spending your time trying to filter
out all the spam before you ever start replying to the
legitimate emails.
Get
A Personal Assistant Or Customer Support
If
you really get a lot of email and a lot of it doesn’t
require your personal attention – i.e. someone trained
in your business could just as easily reply to it, then
get yourself a personal assistant or customer support
person who will take care of almost all the email and
only forward the essential messages to you. This will
free up your time to focus on far more important tasks
like finding more customers and making money.
|
