Email and Productivity

One of my potentially most productive activities is sending meaningful, action-directed emails. If I sit down to a computer for full hour reserved for this purpose, I can compose 10 important emails, and stuff is certainly going to happen.

It’s not my favorite activity, in part because I’ve historically had difficulty efficiently and confidently expressing myself in writing. A three paragraph email with a goal could take me hours, then I could still ruminate on it and second guess myself. In fact, getting past this struggle is one of the main reasons for my commitment to write publicly every day, and it has been a serious help.

On the other hand, that effectiveness also can be eroded away by email, a million tiny pieces adding up to a canyon of lost time and attention. If I have email notifications on my phone, and all my accounts open in separate tabs on the computer, I am incessantly checking for mail, treating my inbox like instant messaging. Dozens, maybe hundreds of times a day I will look away from the task at hand, or life around me, to see if anything new has come in.

The key is to make sure I manage email as mail, handling at periodic and regular intervals. Batching replies and sends in an intentional way. I do not have email notifications on my phone, it isn’t even readily accessible. Through the course of writing this post, I’ve decided the next step is to close email on my computer unless it’s a designated email session.

What are some steps you take to ensure technology is your servant and not your master?