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Secrets to Success
Deborah Cole Micek
and John-Paul Micek
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More tips on managing your e-mail
SECOND OF FOUR PARTS
DO YOU ever feel like the e-mail monster is after you? Anthony Robbins has a saying, "Kill the monster while it's still a baby." In other words, before that e-mail monster gets a chance to grow up and really get embedded permanently into your work habits, kill it while it's still a baby.
This is the time to do that. E-mail has not been around for so long that you can't kill the habit now. Of course, you may have already established bad habits; so the sooner you combat those the better.
Last week, I wrote about when to read your e-mail. Today, I have some more "fight the e-mail monster and win" tips.
» When a new e-mail message comes through, don't stop what you're doing to attend to it. If you are guilty of checking your e-mail as soon as you hear the sound announcing that you have a new e-mail, you are not alone. It's almost like a trigger that reminds your brain, "Oh, a new e-mail just came in. I'd better check it. It could be important." Stop the temptation by turning off the e-mail announcement sound on your computer.
After all, how often do you check your snail-mail box? How often do you run to the post office to see if there's mail in your P.O. Box? We just don't do those things that often. But, we do that with our e-mail.
Just because access to e-mail is right at your fingertips, don't get distracted by it. E-mail is a great communication tool; however, it can be a bad communication tool if we let it consume us.
» Install some type of spam-filtering software to combat that evil spam creature.
I compare this automatic filtering to what I would need to pay an assistant to filter through my mail manually.
Hoala Greevy created a sophisticated filtering program called PauSpam.com in response to all the problems that business owners were facing trying to sift through their junk mail. Once I started working with Hoala and using Pau Spam software, e-mail has been a delight. There were times that I was getting 400 e-mail messages a day that were spam. Now, it's close to zero.
Even if you're going through your e-mail quickly to delete the spam without a special program, it's still a distraction in your mind and in your energy, and it's a waste of time. You shouldn't be bothered with it.
» The next thing you want to do is to organize all your incoming e-mail.
This will allow you to compartmentalize all the projects you're working on in the most productive manner possible.
I will highlight three easy ways to do this in next week's column. Until then, think about these strategies to combat that e-mail monster and kick him out.
John-Paul Micek is the lead business coach at RPM Success Group Inc. Reach him at
JPM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.
Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach and life strategist. Reach her at
DCM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.