#1. Segregate your Reading Material – If, like all of us, you receive tons of newsletters and blog updates, etc., take the time to change your subscription and have them re-routed to another email address – one you ONLY use for subscriptions. Don’t have Groupon and other offers sent there – JUST stuff you like to read once in a while, when you have time. If your email has the ability to mark something as read and folder it when it arrives, you can also try adding those “read later” materials to a folder just for them.
#2. Implement the Two-Minute Rule – The two-minute rule is a concept that we borrowed from David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done. Here it is in a nutshell: If you’re fairly confident that an email will take less than two minutes to take care of, then do it – even if it’s not a high priority. If it’s a quick read and a fast response, then saving it for later actually takes more time – and more mental space. In the immortal words of Nike, just do it!
#3. Only Check it Four Times a Day – Yes, another idea we definitely took from someone else… or maybe they took it from us? Either way, choosing to check email only at certain specific times during the day is just good business. We like first thing in the morning, 11am, right after lunch, and again at 4pm. Don’t check just before lunch or right before you end your day, or you’ll end up hungry and late every time!
The bottom line is that we at OfficeTime definitely understand those who bill for their time, and we know what a time suck email can be. While there are a LOT of solutions out there, many are just too time consuming or difficult to implement. Like our time tracker, we like solutions that are SIMPLE. These are three that we tested, love and try to use.
Remember, time tracking means owning your time, and it means billing a LOT more than you would otherwise. To get the no-cost version of our App, go to http://bit.ly/OfficeTimeFree (and pass it on to others).
Time. The real commodity.
Yours Truly, Stephen Dodd
Creator of OfficeTime.net
