GET PRODUCTIVE: MANAGE EMAIL AND TASKS LIKE A BOSS

Presented by Janet Crum, January 4, 2017

IS THERE A “RIGHT” WAY TO MANAGE EMAIL AND TASKS?

• Lots of different “right” ways to manage email and tasks• 2 wrong ways

– You miss important messages and deadlines and/or don’t respond to messages promptly

– You devise a method for managing your stuff—and don’t use it

COMPONENTS OF MY PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• Email – the source of information, tasks, and general consternation• Tasks – to manage what I’m accountable for• Notes – to manage information from a variety of sources

MY PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT GOALS

• Respond to every email that requires a response within 1 business day1

• Always know what I’m responsible for – and when• Spend the least possible amount of time and effort on managing emails and tasks – so I have more time to do actual work.

1. When I’m not on vacation. Managing email while on vacation is a separate topic not covered in this presentation.

MANAGING EMAIL WITHOUT LOSING MY MIND

• Email is for messages. It is not my to-do list or information manager (in theory). • Processing email

– Filters – only what’s important goes in the inbox (Outlook rules, SaneBox)

– In batches, not as it comes in (and for the love of all that is holy, turn off email notifications)

– Handle each message only once (in theory)– Use the 4 D’s (next slide)– Process every message (Inbox Zero for the win!)

PROCESSING EMAIL WITH THE 4 D’S

• DELETE it: Do you need it? No? Nuke it!• DO it: Can I act on the message in 2 minutes or less? Then just do it! Then delete it.• DELEGATE it: Am I the best person to handle it? No? Then pass it on to the next person and cc the requestor. Then delete it.• DEFER it: If it will take > 2 minutes to do, I create a task in Outlook and attach the email to it.

For more information: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/inbox-zero-achievement-unlocked-janet-crum

WHAT ABOUT INFORMATIONAL EMAILS?

• Short-term– The Hold folder – for stuff that I may need to refer to in the next few

days to a month or so. Need to review/clean out periodically.• Long-term

– File it – if I want to keep it in the form of an email.– Send to notetaking app (OneNote, Evernote) if all I need is the

information.

MY GOALS FOR TASK MANAGEMENT

• Be able to tell at a glance what needs to be done and by when• Always know what the next step is• Have ready access to everything I need to accomplish the task

– Emails– Documents– Links to websites– Notes

A REAL LIVE TASK

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Getting Things Done by David Allen. http://gettingthingsdone.com. One of the most popular productivity books on the market – and with good reason. • SaneBox, https://www.sanebox.com/. Smart email filtering, much easier and more effective than Outlook rules. $7-36/mo depending on number of accounts processed and optional features selected. Significant discounts if you pay annually or biennially.