Taking back control: Email

Today's message really does go down as perhaps "pointing out the blindingly obvious" but sometimes it's good to take a look at what you are doing, and why you are doing it.

Email is a great tool - unfortunately we are bombarded with so much stuff it can seem like a never ending flood of information and demands on our time. So a suggestion for you. If you receive emails which you never open, but file or delete them straight away then consider:

• Blocking the sender (if it is rubbish). Once you have begun to train your email program - you won't need to open and read the entire contents of your s*am folder.
• Filtering the sender to a separate folder - I do this for several people who only send me jokes and funnies and people who seem to think their "problems" are mine. I read these a) when I have time and for the latter b) when I have sufficient energy to deal with it.
• Move the unread items to a separate folder (I do this for newsletters I receive - and want to give the contents the attention they deserve - but don't need urgent action).
• Unsubscribing from whatever it is you are not reading. If you have consistently deleted the item without ever opening it - then why are you still cluttering your inbox with this stuff? Unsubscribe for goodness sake and free up your inbox.

It takes a few minutes to set up the filters and deciding what needs keeping and what you can do without, but it can and does save hours of wasted time and keeps your inbox free for the important stuff....like the daily dose :-).

But just as importantly, you don't get distracted by things and people you don't need to deal with - today. Which means you can focus on what you do need to do.



Comments

[Jasaan Allah Qiydaar]

Excellent advice!