I don’t know about you, but I’ll do anything to avoid addressing my inbox.
Some people are very responsible at keeping their email accounts neat and tidy, but I have an unfortunate habit of putting this business on the back burner of my daily priority list. I usually wait until it boils over, forcing me to grit my teeth and read and reply to some of what I find inside.
The bad part isn’t even handling the important matters, but rather sorting through the other nonsense that conveniently occupies 90% of all of the content.
You know what I’m talking about – the “clever”, “hilarious”, or “touching” chain emails that everyone around the office deems necessary to forward, the AARP or Viagra ads that are always sure to brighten your day, or even those ostensibly legitimate first-prize-in-some-contest-you-never-entered messages, which beseech you to click on a mysterious link that may very well bring you to some questionable site operating under a web domain hailing from the boreal forests of Yugoslavia.
Alas friends, worry not, there is a better way.
Consider the following paradox: you can trick your brain into tricking you. One way of doing so is providing yourself with mini if-then scenarios, that are not up for discussion. For example, you might say that ‘if it is 7 a.m., then I will go to the gym. Do not waver in this timing, and your brain will force you to adhere to your decision when the time comes.
This method is very useful in scheduling email-checking sessions. The best way to force yourself to undertake this oftentimes excruciating task is give yourself specific times throughout the day to do so. To account for limited attention spans, I would recommend four, separate 15 minute periods each day.
Assuming I check my email every day, it usually takes me an hour to organize everything nicely. If it takes you longer, adjust the time periods accordingly.
To optimize efficiency and minimize monotony, do the following five things in each session:
1) Compose and send mail that you are already planning on sending. Not only is this usually your most important task when checking your account, it will allow you to promptly respond should your recipient reply to your email before your 15 minute session has expired.
2) Clean out the pipes. Delete any undesirable, unimportant or unnecessary items from your inbox.
3) Respond. I have found that the best way to do this is to start at the top and move down the list. Prioritizing is a waste of time. Putting somebody first isn’t going to change the content of your response.
4) File what’s left in your inbox. This is where you address anything that has not required your immediate attention. Here’s where you can read longer articles, follow interesting links, or put things aside to come back to in the future. Try not to leave anything in your inbox. Anything important should have a special place in a separate file.
5) Move on. When the 15 minutes has expired, stop where you are and start doing something else. You can pick up where you left off at the start of your next session.