Boost Your Productivity – Quit Being A Slave To Emails

Editor Note: I originally wrote this piece as a guest article to share with the readers from esteemed copywriter, John Forde’s Copywriter Roundtable’s newsletter.

I’m re-producing it here for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy reading it like I’ve writing it.

Here’s a question to think about.

How many of you read the email as virtually the first
thing you do when you turn on the computer?

Recent studies show that a whopping 65.3% of us do so.

For the longest time, that includes me as well.

And here’s the thing…

Don’t you find that once you are deep in your
reading and replying of emails,
you can be buried there for hours?

And you will soon find yourself wasting so much time that
you did not get much done?

If you are nodding your head in agreement, then
this is something you might want to address.

But first, just why are we often addicted to emails?

There’s a psychological reason for this.

And that’s our subconscious craving for attention.

You like the feeling of being communicated to.
You like the fact that others are reaching out to you.

There’s a sense of anticipation as you check your inbox.

And you feel good when you see new emails waiting for you.

There’s no doubt about it.

Email is a powerful communication tool.

We all need to use it.

The only question is how can you use email effectively
without it adversely affecting your productivity?

The simple answer lies in your ability to take control.

You have to take control of your emailing activities instead
of having emails consume you.

You see…when you start reading and replying your emails,
you are in reactive mode.

You become part of other people’s agenda.

And often, it become really easy for you to be embroiled in
"fire-fighting". You read and reply emails after emails.

And you become so used to it that you start the whole
loop again after you have finished a round of replying.

It can become so chronic that some people even develop an
obsessive-compulsive behavior towards the checking of emails.

That’s when you have a real BIG problem!

Now it’s fine being in a reactive state.

Just not at the beginning of your work day or your work time,
when it’s crucial to kick off on a productive note.

During these periods, you want to be in proactive mode if you
want to be optimal in your productiveness.

You have to start on your agenda instead of others.

Okay, you might say, "But I need emails to communicate.
It’s part of my work!"

Point taken.

Now ask yourself:

Will it have a negative impact on your results
if you just delay your checking of emails by half an hour to one hour
so that you can get some important work done first?

Chances are…for most parts…it’s OKAY to delay
your emailing activities for awhile.

It’s OKAY to wait.

Because most of your results will come from
doing really high value activities. Not by emailing.

If it’s really urgent, you can call.

Or the opposite party would have called you
if they really need you.

So try this. The next time you turn on your computer, immediately
get some work done first.

Resist the urge to open your emails, no matter how strong the
temptation is. Don’t even surf other non-related work sites
(e.g. Facebook, Gossip news etc).

Get some critical work done. Do it for half an hour. Or one hour.

Only when you have accomplished some useful tasks,
could you then "reward" yourself by starting on
your emailing.

And even then, you don’t want to continually
check your emails.

Do so a pre-determined periods.

I know this is highly counter-intuitive. But remember,
the path to success is often not obvious.

This will require you to be extremely disciplined.
But once you do it long enough, it will become an ingrained
ritual to you.

My point again is – don’t be a slave to emails.

Take control…on your terms.

And you will watch your productivity soar. Guaranteed.

Love to hear your thoughts.

To Your Success,

Jag Foo

P.S If you really must check your emails,
set a time limit to 10-15 minutes.

I agree that you have to be careful not to let email consume too much of your day, however I use email checking as a way to break up my work. So for instance, I’ll establish a number of goals that I want to achieve for a particular workday and in between accomplishing those goals, I’ll take a “break” and check email.
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i will also take break for checking mail s and breakfast but goal of my whole day is fixed and i do with my best try….
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Thanks for this effective advice, because your article is about me – I spend 2-3 hours a day replying to e-mails and checking my post! Now i know what to do to increase my productivity.

I was struck by this post…haha..yah I admit that I love reading mails, because I love the fact that someone has bothered to remember me..I should have try to practice your advice…
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I will seperate the timings of work and also break with for few mins with the relaxation. Thanks for sharing with us.

good to hear this may be I will change schedule of timing to work
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I will also take break for checking mail s and breakfast but goal of my whole day is fixed and i do with my best try….

Samantha

Thanks for abunch of interesting informations

I accede that you accept to be accurate not to let email absorb too abundant of your day, about I use email blockage as a way to breach up my work. So for instance, I’ll authorize a amount of goals that I wish to accomplish for a accurate banal and in amid accomplishing those goals, I’ll yield a “break” and analysis email.

I use email checking as a way to break up my work. So for instance, I’ll establish a number of goals that I want to achieve for a particular workday and in between accomplishing those goals, I’ll take a “break” and check email.Thanks…

Guys,

Now you know where your work hours have disappeared to eh?

Email is a major “killer”.

Schedule them at an pre-allocated time.
Or set them as a “reward” after
you gotten some work done.

And you will be alright.

Cheers,
Jag

Yeah. I can definitely relate with this one. Thanks for sharing a bunch of information with us. Maybe I could also try this out. :)
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Great article about time management.. I’ll always try to be more effective in my work:)
__
kviser

I am bit on time blocking. i think we should set aside time to do the most important things first and shut down the email until we are done.

This is a pretty great post. I like how you examine our perspective on emails and how we use them. Some very helpful advice. Thanks!

Agreed. If you can talk to someone then call, if you can visit someone then visit. Email is the lazy way out.

Great post, Jag Foo.

Having an ‘Internet job’ can be challenging. Me myself always have to focus on productivity and how I spend my time. I always write todays-to-do-lists and have written down my ineffective activities. So whenever I do one of those things, I know if I should continue or not. May not sound too smart, but it’s really helping.
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I agree, I also checking my mails day by day and managing my time for it!!
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I think you should be careful not to let E-mail consumes too much of the day, but I use email as a means to check my work.

Great article which inspires me to think about my behaviour. You are absolutely right … I´m a slave to my emails but I will try to change ;). Thx, Jag

Getting some important things done before checking is a wise action to be active and in use of your time. But make sure also that all emails that you have to check is the important one or in concern of your career. Get some online wholesale clothing.
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every word of your writing has just spoke my heart out! While reading it,I was certainly nodding to every point that you have made regarding the addiction to emails. I always have this strange snotty behavior if I don’t get to check my emails daily. You have rightly called it an act of attention grabbing as one wants to connect with the world with not a very cogent purpose behind it. I will surely keep in mind your useful tips next time I sit and check my mails.

Another great post Jag… I find myself checking my emails more often since I wait for vital information from my email every day.The temptation to read other emails is still there. It is important to have control over yourself and make a schedule and stick to it. Checking emails shouldn’t be a 1 hour thing at the beginning of the day. It is something that should be 10-15 minutes after major work is done.

It is necessary for me to read a lot of email due to my business. So much so that I am absolutely not looking for attention. It’s a chore that I try to finish ASAP and move on.

I can also relate to this. Before I used spending hours in emails. I also came to a point when I patiently wait for the person to reply. But now I manage to control myself. I now spend my time in chatting.

Thanks for posting your opinion. Time management is very important and its difficult to learn. But once you learn it, soon you’ll see success. Hope all of us learn from it. Thanks.
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This is a great post and is very true!
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I totally agree with you on this one. Most of the time I am a slave of my own email. I think I check it 150 – 200 a day…..I know it’s not healthy

Thanks for the great pointers and the huge amount of material!reat productivity tips and articles. Hopefully some of the tips helped you collecting this list.This is a pretty great post. I like how you examine our perspective on emails and how we use them. Some very helpful advice. Thanks!
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I AM AGREE SITH YOU. WHEN WE READ OTHERS EMAIL, THAT MEANS WE ARE CONSUMING OUR TIME AND WASTING IT.

Will it have a negative impact on your results
if you just delay your checking of emails by half an hour to one hour
so that you can get some important work done first?
i’ve a bit doubt about it

Talat Sattti

I think it goes back to your work schedule. For some they have to check their emails first thing in the morning. For others it’s not mandatory at all. It’s a priority thing if you have your priorities in order then you can easily check your emails and you wont waste time checking them.

looking good the article. I have to use this process.

I agree on everything that you say. I myself check my emails first thing in the morning. What I did to eliminate the time consuming of replying mails is that I see to it that I only reply to important mails and check the unimportant during lunch break or after work.

I agree with the concept of being a slave to your email.

We have introduced a two hour slot per day where emails aren’t being responded to increase productivity overall. Randy Pausch, senior lecturer at Carnegie Mellon, said in his time management seminar, part of his “the Last Lecture” series, that rather than scheduling time for not responding to email you should have time when you do respond and train the people you correspond with to expect a reply during those hours.

It’s tough if you correspond with a big group of people and if you have a job where quick decisions need to made via email, but really how many decisions can’t wait for a maximum of 3 hours? Even if not then I’m sure you’ve got a phone that can be called.
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I agreed from your concept I use email blockage as a way to breach up my work. So for instance, I’ll authorize a amount of goals that I wish to accomplish for a accurate banal and in amid accomplishing those goals, I’ll yield a “break” and analysis email.web design hampshire

Great post, a tip I use is to only check my emails at certain times during the day so that I can focus on my other work.

I can relate to this. I feel compelled to respond to emails as soon as I see them as its tough not to stop thinking about them. Its a real skill to get on with other work without responding to emails!

I spend a considerable time on reading my emails. Both personal and professional. I liked the post a lot and as i found my reasons quite quite similar to the ones given over here. Thanks.

What a great tip! I know I am guilty of this, and I hate it to be honest, but it is so hard to get out of this rut!

Email isn’t the first thing I check when I go online. It’s the forums that I’m active at. But that does still involve communicating with others and I do love it when I get replies to my posts! It’s a way to relax for me too so I guess I don’t feel like a slave to it…

I definately check emails first thing every day. even if i know i wont have anything interesting in the inbox. when running a business (especially if you work on a computer as i do)however, i think its so important to be able to reply to clients emails when they send them quickly. in this day and age people expect things 3 days ago, not in 5 minutes, so its important to keep up.

But that does still involve communicating with others and I do love it when I get replies to my posts! It’s a way to relax for me too so I guess I don’t feel like a slave to it…

This is great advice – I spend way too much time constantly checking my emails instead of actually just getting on with the stuff I have in hand to do.

That’s a good post. But we don’t have to forget that emails are basis of the web.

But emails are, remember, the origins of internet communication.

Reading emails all day long has taken up a lot of my time when working on my business. You really do have to plan things out accordingly or you’ll never get things accomplished.
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this blog is best and it give good perspective on emails
keep it up

Always good to get advice on increasing productivity! Thanks.

Email is one of the best way of communication to clients and to inform the new updates related to the business.

Reply email is sign of good professional.For real productivity of business we have to depend a lot on email system.

I can totally relate. That’s what I’m doing now, while working, I don’t check my emails, because once I do, I’ll be tempted to check my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. With all the notifications and updates, it’s so hard not to. So, now, self-control is the key. I can’t believe how productive I’ve become.