The three top spots in our wish list are married to Passion, Freedom (money associated) and Success. Amazingly, the bulk of the over-bulging number of inbox e-mails is directly related to the same top three wishes! You wonder how the e-mail subject can steer you with conviction to e-mails that you will actually want to read. I think we are living in confusion, speeding terribly down this cyber linking highway. We read personal e-mails at work and work related e-mails at home. We shop while working (don’t let the boss know) and solve work related situations at home (need to let the boss know)! We receive e-mails from people in a far away time zone, living in countries that are enjoying the warmth and colors of autumn while we are planting spring flowers and dealing with the last hurrah of a late snowfall!
We need some customized therapy. Do you like the facts?
– There is a quarter of the population who checks e-mails while waking, still in bed, a new version of the alarm clock!
– As a matter of fact more than half of these souls are e-mailing back in their pajamas, their version of the professional look!
– There is a large population who confessed to e-mailing in the bathroom; they simply felt they “had to go!”
– It is criminal that close to 40% of us check e-mail while driving (or text); a very serious offense with possibly catastrophic life long effects.
– Lastly, I have no words for the ones who check e-mails at church (you know who you are); they definitely need our prayers and hope God will not send an angel to confiscate their iPhone!
The search to cover our need for E-Mail Management is endless. How specialized are our lives? The spending on email marketing grew from $1.2 billion in 2007 to $2.1 billion in 2012. The spending on retention strategies for clients using e-mail also doubled during that period.
Here are some new ideas on managing your e-mails:
– Checking e-mail less often and on previously set times is a must, but let any possible sender know (post it) what time you will be checking your e-mail next; eventually it will reduce your inbox volume up to 15% and your phone will ring more.
– Turn notifications of new messages off, they invite you to stop being productive. It is proven that our “just need to know” attitude prevails. Turn it off, as well as other notifications. Have your daily planner handy.
– Don’t open an email until you are ready to deal with it. It will allow less mental distractions.
– Color-code your e-mail; let the software work for you. Use the flag, as well as color coded categories to sort things out.
It is just your genuine intent to be more productive, but also your right to want to have more time for fun!!!
Until next time,
Yours truly,
Thomas Antonopoulos, Blogger for OfficeTime
PS: Get your no-cost trial the desktop version of our Time Tracking Solution atOfficeTime.net
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