Discussion Forum > Daily Email System
I always check email (and Microsoft Teams) as soon as I log in for work. My "trick" is to block no more than a half hour. During that time, I first read every email and put next actions on my list. I do not respond to emails until I have processed each one. Then if I have time left in my half hour block, I will act on some of the emails. At the end of the half hour, I time block out any emails/tasks from my inbox that need to be addressed today.
Then I make a good cup of coffee and do my CI for the next 90 minutes, as meetings and other obligations allow.
I also do the same half hour routine at the end of the day.
Then I make a good cup of coffee and do my CI for the next 90 minutes, as meetings and other obligations allow.
I also do the same half hour routine at the end of the day.
November 22, 2020 at 15:57 |
vegheadjones
vegheadjones
Christopher:
I would advise you to read Chapter 4 "Think Systems" in my book "Secrets of Productive People".
I would advise you to read Chapter 4 "Think Systems" in my book "Secrets of Productive People".
November 23, 2020 at 1:39 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
I do almost the same thing that VegHeadJones does! Quick triage of all new emails, take care of most pressing responses, then move on to my “current initiative” work as soon as possible, as allowed by meetings and interruptions.
November 23, 2020 at 6:40 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
I like what vegheadjones proposes and combined with Seraphim's scheduling of recurring (unwanted) tasks I'd create a list of tasks that have to get done today…
…aka DIT's Task Diary.
I suppose using FVP and just making sure everything gets actioned would be an elegant alternative, that allows to include the emails vegheadjones would be time-blocking.
I've re-read Chapter 4 "Think Systems" in "Secrets of Productive People" and the take-away was to make sure I get a system that produces the results I want. Which makes me think to ditch the concept of "inbox zero in one go" altogether. Mhm.
…aka DIT's Task Diary.
I suppose using FVP and just making sure everything gets actioned would be an elegant alternative, that allows to include the emails vegheadjones would be time-blocking.
I've re-read Chapter 4 "Think Systems" in "Secrets of Productive People" and the take-away was to make sure I get a system that produces the results I want. Which makes me think to ditch the concept of "inbox zero in one go" altogether. Mhm.
November 23, 2020 at 13:23 |
Christopher
Christopher
Seraphim:
<< I do almost the same thing that VegHeadJones does! Quick triage of all new emails, take care of most pressing responses, then move on to my “current initiative” work as soon as possible, as allowed by meetings and interruptions.>>
Oh, yes. That's the example I give in Chapter 4 of "Productive People" of an email system that is designed to produce a backlog!
<< I do almost the same thing that VegHeadJones does! Quick triage of all new emails, take care of most pressing responses, then move on to my “current initiative” work as soon as possible, as allowed by meetings and interruptions.>>
Oh, yes. That's the example I give in Chapter 4 of "Productive People" of an email system that is designed to produce a backlog!
November 23, 2020 at 18:35 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
Hm, I’ll have to reread that, and see what the difference is, because I don’t get email backlogs with this approach. Maybe there is a missing ingredient.
November 24, 2020 at 16:32 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
OK, I reread the chapter with the dysfunctional email system - "check email, ten emails have arrived, deal with five of them, leave the rest for later". Yes, I can see if that is all you do, then it will create backlogs. So I can understand Mark's objection!
It seems that I left out an important part from my description. After spending as much time as I can on the current initiative, eventually the day starts to get chopped up by meetings and interruptions. At this point, I mostly bounce back and forth between the meetings/interruptions and Microsoft Outlook. In Outlook, I do things in this order:
(1) Check calendar/reminders
(2) Triage of new incoming emails
(3) Clear all tasks due today (mostly recurring maintenance)
(4) Clear all emails flagged for action today
(5) Clear all emails flagged for action on previous days (overdue)
Whenever I come back to Outlook after a meeting or interruption, I just go through that list, top to bottom. Most days I clear all of these. Some days, I can't keep up, and so a few things spill over to the next day, but they are generally cleared out within a day or two.
If I get through all this, I then allow myself to be free and do whatever I want. Usually I turn back to my Current Initiative but sometimes I just read or explore or whatever.
I arrived at this system, which works quite well for me, following a process very similar to what Mark describes in Chapter 4 of the Secrets of Productive People book -- carefully observing the problems and conflicts that would arise with my existing system, and trying to find a way to fix the system to eliminate the problem and not introduce new problems.
The triage step turned out to be really important for me. There are often unexpected urgent interruptions over which I have little control. I need to respond to these quickly. Triaging my new emails whenever I have a break between meetings and interruptions ensures I stay on top of all these urgent things. This then frees me up to focus on the other tasks and work them to completion without any niggling worries that I am neglecting something urgent.
It seems that I left out an important part from my description. After spending as much time as I can on the current initiative, eventually the day starts to get chopped up by meetings and interruptions. At this point, I mostly bounce back and forth between the meetings/interruptions and Microsoft Outlook. In Outlook, I do things in this order:
(1) Check calendar/reminders
(2) Triage of new incoming emails
(3) Clear all tasks due today (mostly recurring maintenance)
(4) Clear all emails flagged for action today
(5) Clear all emails flagged for action on previous days (overdue)
Whenever I come back to Outlook after a meeting or interruption, I just go through that list, top to bottom. Most days I clear all of these. Some days, I can't keep up, and so a few things spill over to the next day, but they are generally cleared out within a day or two.
If I get through all this, I then allow myself to be free and do whatever I want. Usually I turn back to my Current Initiative but sometimes I just read or explore or whatever.
I arrived at this system, which works quite well for me, following a process very similar to what Mark describes in Chapter 4 of the Secrets of Productive People book -- carefully observing the problems and conflicts that would arise with my existing system, and trying to find a way to fix the system to eliminate the problem and not introduce new problems.
The triage step turned out to be really important for me. There are often unexpected urgent interruptions over which I have little control. I need to respond to these quickly. Triaging my new emails whenever I have a break between meetings and interruptions ensures I stay on top of all these urgent things. This then frees me up to focus on the other tasks and work them to completion without any niggling worries that I am neglecting something urgent.
November 24, 2020 at 16:59 |
Seraphim
Seraphim
I came back to the classic GTD email layout, well, the @waitingfor and @reply folders at least.
Twice a day I check email. In the morning, after the first go at the "CI", to prepare for the "runway", I will process the inbox to zero. Then, late afternoon, I do again process the inbox to zero and subsequently clear the @reply folder. I also write all "@email" tasks that accumulated during the day.
That way I handle all the aforementioned problems and also leave the inbox completely clear whenever I worked on email.
Twice a day I check email. In the morning, after the first go at the "CI", to prepare for the "runway", I will process the inbox to zero. Then, late afternoon, I do again process the inbox to zero and subsequently clear the @reply folder. I also write all "@email" tasks that accumulated during the day.
That way I handle all the aforementioned problems and also leave the inbox completely clear whenever I worked on email.
March 6, 2021 at 22:36 |
Christopher
Christopher
If you're part of an email conversation that's no longer relevant to you, mute the conversation.
April 27, 2021 at 2:06 |
Stephanie Sy
Stephanie Sy
DO make sure you have a good antivirus program, keep it up to date, and scan your system just to be sure you're "clean".
May 11, 2021 at 1:01 |
Stephanie Sy
Stephanie Sy
Here are the reasons why I prefer to check the inbox (and chat as well) first thing:
- I may encounter people and colleagues on the runway and don't want to be dumbfounded if they ask about something they had written to me yesterday. I tried "I didn't check yet", but it doesn't feel good and I don't want to be that way.
- Urgencies usually arrive via email, if not as a phone call. So, before I go about the day's worth of work I want to check in whether something is already burning. The earlier, the better.
- I am curious as heck, if people replied already to things I wrote.
Now, there is one problem with working all email in the morning. It is quite some load, which is okay, but I'd prefer to do the wildly important tasks first. In the spirit of DIT's CI basically. Emails are seldom that important, maybe never.
So, when I check Emails first and then try to work on the important stuff, my mind tends to wander as to what I would write in those emails. If I start with the CI, then I feel time-pressured because I haven't dealt with email yet.
How can I sort this out?