I’m constantly challenged by email.
On the one hand, I love it.
What an incredible medium.
I’m subscribed to all sorts of interesting people.I love hearing from readers. And it’s a great way to keep in touch with friends.
But it is SO easy to check email more than we need to.
Way more.
It feels like you’re just having a quick peek.
But it’s not.
It breaks your rhythm.
Interrupts your focus. Your momentum. Your train of thought.
And the even bigger loss …
It fills in the spaces where creative ideas show up.
Those small gaps of nothing are where the good stuff happens. Where you figure something out, make a connection, finally get unstuck.
(I also run a little anxious and the constant checking makes me feel more scattered.)
This isn’t a small down-shift in productivity, it’s huge.
The scary truth…
When I’m disciplined about email, I get at least twice as much done in a day, often more. And it’s better quality.
Twice as much!
A few things that help:
Don’t have your email application open in the background. Close. It. Down.
Read and answer emails at set times; once or twice a day is usually enough.
Set up rules so favorite emails go into a folder to read later
Unsubscribe from emails you no longer read (not my newsletter!! Just kidding. Even mine, if it’s cluttering up your life)
Answer emails when you read them—for anything that takes less than 5 minutes
Remove email from your phone—or at least turn off the notification
Am I an email-resisting ninja everyday?
No.
But when I do…
oh boy.
What changes for you when you stop constantly checking email?