A good friend and colleague of mine, was close to tears when we talked recently. She was feeling overwhelmed and frazzled and with the all the responsibilities of her own business. Her self confidence was sagging. As we talked, a major obstacle was revealed.
She was an E-mail Slave.
The magnitude of e-mails she was reading each day was absolutely mind-boggling. Her belief was that being efficient and productive meant being on call 24/7 with her e-mail, checking and responding to it throughout the day. She also was subscribed to a ridiculous number of e-newsletters, feeling she needed to read them all in order to stay on top of her game,know who was doing what, find out about new offers and programs and know what new trends are. On top of all of this, she starting comparing herself with internet superstars and feeling like she was failing.
This is not an unusual scenerio. I coach ALL of my clients to honor their precious time & energy by creating boundries with their computer time. Here are 3 strategies you can use now for an instant return of one of your most precious assets. Your time!
1. Schedule specific times to check & respond to emails-checking email throughout the day is unproductive, undisciplined, and unfocused. Not exactly what you are aiming for right? Instead, experiment with 2-3 times a day vs. constant hourly check-ins. You’ll be more focused and actually get more done this way. Try it. It works!
2. Set a time limit- Invest in a simple timer and use it. Set a specific time limit, say 30 minutes to handle emails and another 30 minutes to attend to your online social networking. I promise you, you will love how much more energy and time you will have with this approach.
3. Email Housecleaning- Time to review what is actually coming into your inbox. Unsubscribe from ezines that aren’t high priority and value. Registering for a free tele-class which automatically puts you on a “list”? A great way to keep your main email inbox “clean” is to subscribe for tele-calls & newsletters through a secondary email account like Gmail or AOL.
Honor yourself, your sanity and your vision of success by doing these 3 little changes and let me know your successes!
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