Posts Tagged ‘effeciency’
How to Handle Your Workday Information Overload - Quit being a slave to email and manage your work time more effectively
Friday, April 4th, 2008
Are you one of those people who checks their email every five minutes? And do you practically have a panic attack when you’ve realized that you left your Blackberry at home or in the car? Well, you’re not alone. Today, in this digital age, workers have become so reliant on their email communications that it has become more of an obsession, making workdays less productive.
When you consider emails over phone calls, it’s easy to see how emails can be time savers: a quick 30-second email verses a 10-minute phone call. Okay, so what is the problem? Well, considering emails are so easy and quick, people end up sending out more emails then they would end up making in phone calls. What would once be figured out by reading a manual, now a question gets emailed out to someone and then Cc’d to five others. Many workers check their messages so frequently that finishing other tasks ends up taking 2-3 times as long. Also, many times with email communications, questions aren’t clear or answers are vague so there will be back and forth emails for several rounds, where a phone call could clear things up much quicker.
How to be more productive by distancing yourself from emails
Take an honest look at how often your check, write and respond to emails. Do you always have a PDA device with you to ensure that you never miss an important email? Do you ever go longer than an hour during a workday without checking your email? It’s easy to become a slave to email and feel like you are powerless to its addictive communications but, don’t worry, you can get back your workday and learn how to manage your time more effectively. Here’s how:
Turn your email program off when you are working on a project - When you have a paper or report to write or research to do, etc., temporarily turn your email program off to keep temptation away and to avoid hearing that distinctive inbox “ding”. You will be amazed at how much quicker you can get through tasks when you’re not constantly distracted by that temptation-ridden inbox!
Stop unnecessary Ccing - It’s a trap that many business people fall into: Unnecessarily Ccing others, thereby wasting their time and inviting them to respond to the email. This can turn a simple email into non-stop back and forth banter - and for no apparent reason. You should only copy others to an email if their participation is absolutely necessary. Implementing this rule office wide would end up saving everyone’s time - and you’d be surprised by how much!
For complicated subjects, make the phone call - Believe it or not, there are times when a phone call is quicker than sending an email. People are so accustomed to emails that they’ll spend 10 minutes typing up an email that inevitably gets confused by the reader because of the complex subject. When dealing with complicated or easily-misunderstood subject matter, it’s usually best for both parties that a phone call is made to clear up any confusion.
It is possible to free yourself from the shackles of email, but it will take some commitment and willpower on your end. You’ll no doubt find that once you learn to control your email addiction, your workdays will be more productive and even less stressful.
Tags: Carrie Hinkel, effeciency, Growing Your Business, information management, management, staying productive
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