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Secrets to Success
Deborah Cole Micek
and John-Paul Micek
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Bring e-mail monster under control
Last of four parts
No matter how many time-management courses I take, I just can't get everything done," exclaimed Jo the first minute she called in for her private coaching session.
She was exasperated.
"I'm working seven days a week managing multiple projects, priorities and deadlines. I just can't keep up. I'm overwhelmed, exhausted, and there are over 1,500 messages in my e-mail in-box ..."
Does this sound familiar? I was in the same boat when I started my own business. I consistently had a full in-box, and I was always playing "catch up," working past midnight to clear out my in-box at the end of every week.
However, whether you're an executive or a business owner, when you tackle the e-mail monster, you will get your life back while you accomplish more in one day than ever before.
When you follow the strategies I have outlined, you'll actually accomplish more (to distinguish from doing more), and you won't have 75 or 7,500 e-mails sitting in your in-box every morning waiting for your reply.
Here are some quick tips to remember when tackling the e-mail monster:
» Turn off the sound that plays every time new e-mail arrives.
» Get a spam filter.
» Set specific times of day to answer your e-mail.
» Catalog your e-mail according to priority in different folders.
Now, answer these questions:
» Are you guilty of being overly polite in your e-mail responses, where you always have to be the last one to say something? Treating e-mail like a dialogue?
» Are you guilty of replying to someone who says, "You're welcome" with your own reply of "Thank you" and back and forth, continuing the conversation instead of ending it?
Even if you followed the four tips above, if you answered 'yes' to the above questions, you're guilty of wasting precious time. Simply answering with a "You're welcome," although polite, adds up minutes, then hours. And time is being wasted on the other end, too. The recipient has to hit delete to get rid of your polite but pesky replies.
Time-saving tip:
You can easily analyze how much time you're spending on e-mail by downloading a free service such as "Slim Timer" (
www.slimtimer.com) on your desktop.
Every time you check your e-mail, hit the "e-mail task" on your desktop. At the end of the week, you can print out a report that will reveal exactly how much time you spend on e-mail compared to how much time you spend on other tasks. You'll be able to re-organize your time for greater efficiency.
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.