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freedom from emailtaking control of your inbox

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bad email, bad bad email!email really, really sucks

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Today’s email culture (v)• We send emails in order to get things

off our plates

• We under communicate and over-coordinate

• We believe information overload is inevitable

• We accept it as others lay their overload burden on us

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5 stages of email• Bring it on

• Develop systems

• Given in

• Radicalize

• Organize

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overcoming email dysfunction

steps to taking control of your inbox

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This is how we do it• Reduce overload

• Learn to process email properly

• Be responsible when YOU send

• Make stuff actionable, keep stuff actionable

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Reducing email overload• Unsubscribe / block useless

newsletters

• Unsubscribe from internal groups that don't add direct value

• Filter purely informational stuff to a "read when I have time" folder (newsletters, alerts, etc)

• Tips from panel

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taking control of your inboxhow to process email

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How to process email• Delete

• Do

• Delegate

• Defer

• Produce next actions

• Clear

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4 tips to email success4 of my top 100

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• Email tags

• Team email agreements

• Reduce informational email

• Create tasks / appointments

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Thank You!And good luck with your inbox!

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resources for successtaking it beyond the classroom

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Books• Getting Things Done, David Allen

• Take Back Your Life, Sally McGhee

• 4 Hour Workweek, Timothy Ferris

• Conquering Chronic Disorganization, Judith Kolberg

• Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook, Michael Linenberger

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Blogs• Getting Things Done Zone:

http://www.officezealot.com/gtd/

• 43 Folders: http://www.43folders.com/

• Lifehacker: www.lifehacker.com

• GTD Index: http://gtdindex.marvelz.com

• Lifehack: www.lifehack.org

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Stay in touch!• I try and talk about time management

on a weekly basis on my blog: www.ensight.org

• Feel free to email me: jeremy@b5media.com

• Read b5media’s Time Management blogs:– Declutter It: www.declutterit.com– Pimp My Work: www.pimpmywork.com

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tips from the expertsin-the-trenches advice on email management

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Dealing with “Big” Emails – Itzy Sabo

I use a very simple technique to maintain a high level of responsiveness: whenever I'm processing my inbox and I decide that I need to reply to a particular message, but it will take too long to do it right now, I file it in a folder named "Reply".

When the dust settles at the end of each day, I have a clean list of the messages to which I need to reply, without other messages clouding my vision.

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Getting Things Done – Nick Duffill

The "productivity formula" that matches reality pretty well is "Productivity = Knowledge x Focus squared".

This says that focusing hard on something is the most effective way to achieve it. A lower level of knowledge coupled with unwavering commitment can easily outperform someone with better theoretical knowledge who is trying to keep too many plates spinning. You can spend a fortune on tools, techniques and skills, but it is focus that ultimately counts.