Step 2: The Work E-mail

J

jhitchin

0
Now that I've got my home e-mail in order, I decided to do the same thing with my work e-mail. Now, this is a different case as I get a lot of mail, most of which isn't cogent to my job. I originally was sending some e-mails to a filtered folder which I routinely just deleted every couple of days.

I did the same thing as I did at home. Deleted my Rules and let everything go to the Inbox. My initial plan was to let this go for a week or two so that I can gauge just what kind of mail I'm getting and if it needs to be filtered.

As it turns out, I get about 50 e-mails a day, 70% of which I can delete without reading. Of the remainder, two-thirds require a quick response from me, which I do first thing in the morning, and then file the others in !Actionable while I make notes in my Circa binder either on project sheets or on Needs To Get Done depending on how big of a thing it is. So, after I get to work, in ten minutes, I have my Inbox cleared and a list of things I need to do that day on top of my normal workload.

I've gotten to the point now where I'm taking on more stuff as I'm top of thigns now, and get a lot done before 8:00 a.m.

Next task: Taming the paper tiger at home (incoming paper stuff)

Jeff
 
Thanks for the informative report!

This is why I shake my head when people say that they don't have time to clear their inbox, or keep it clear. Not only does it increase your productivity, it clears your head.

When my inboxes are clear, I have less stress, and I think about interesting things more often, like Jeff.
 
Brent;63386 said:
When my inboxes are clear, I have less stress, and I think about interesting things more often, like Jeff.
Click to expand...

It's so calming to know that all the things that have come at you or that you have emptied from your mind have been processed. However short that little time span is, it's still wonderful. It's also a great starting point when a whole new set of inbox items begin to accumulate. I'm more open then to let new things into my life, many of which could be wonderful and I probably would have missed in the past.
 
Doing GTD better than ever

I've got the bug to get things done again. I've been doing this since 1999! 10 years and if I chose to bash myself I could do it well, but I've been distracted by a lot of personal baggage.

Regardless; my INBOX at Work & Email. They are empty today. Today is all I have and they are empty. I made a bit of a game of it...

I made a task in my Checklists Category, InBoxs To Empty! I use Outlook & I did a recurrance of; daily, regenerate 1 day after done. So we'll see how that works.

But I really agree with the time factor & the pyschological air it provides. It can be done.
 
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