Tuesday, September 21, 2010

How to Use Email Properly (Instead of Letting It Use You!)

Email can be your productivity downfall....

Or it can be your productivity Godsend.

It's all in How You Use It.

I treat emails like text messages now.  I look at every incoming email instantly on my phone (Gmail).  I then either:  (1) Archive it, or (2) Reply with a one-line reply & Archive it, or (3) If it needs further attention I Star it & then Archive it.  Then, later at my desk, I'll use my Priority Inbox to see "All Starred" messages.  Each of those need an entry copied & pasted to my To Do List and/or my Master Projects Outline.  Once I've done that, I simply remove the Star (& it stays archived).

Also, every time I think of a great idea... or something I need to do, or to buy... or whatever... I email to myself.... the idea.  Then, I process those emails exactly the same way I do all the others -- as described above.

The result is:

People who need an instant answer from me -- like,  "Are you still interested in that $1million contract?" -- get an instant answer -- like,  "Yes!  I absolutely am! :) "

People who just wanna chat usually get ignored (unless I'm really bored myself! :)

Every time I think of a brilliant idea, I get it captured to a place where it belongs -- even if it happens when I have no pen and no cell service.

I'm able to follow through on commitments to others better, and on commitments to myself better too!

I can also process those "Starred" emails even when I'm away from the computer now....  because I keep my To Do List, and my Master Projects Outline, and my Shopping List, etc... as simple text file documents on my computer.... I can use Dropbox to edit those documents from ANY of my computers, or from ANY of my phones, remotely!  Even on an airplane or a subway ride!   The instant my phone gets a cell signal again, all changes to all documents are replicated to ALL of my computers and phones... instantly!

Love technology!

Posted via email from Bruce's Journal

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