Don’t let your email slow you down

Kyla Rozman, a professional organizer with In Order to Succeed in Vancouver, suggests four ways to prevent your incoming messages from becoming a constant distraction:

1. Turn off email notifications
One of the reasons why we waste time on email, Rozman says, is that we react to each message as it comes in.

“It takes at least two to three minutes to recover from each interruption,” she says.

In order to stay focused, turn off your email notifications — that icon that pops up on your screen (with our without audio accompaniment) every time your program detects new mail. The idea may make you nervous but, Rozman insists, it is worth a shot.

“If you just try it for a week,” Rozman says, “you will be impressed with how focused you are, and your productivity will absolutely increase.”

What about those days when you’re waiting for something important, you ask? In these instances, there’s a good chance you’re already checking your email frequently regardless of whether your notification system is active. Alternatively, you can switch the system on temporarily.

2. Set email deadlines
There’s an adage that says work expands to fill time allotted. When we have 15 minutes to complete a task, we’ll accomplish it within that time. If we are given 30 minutes, the job will take 30 minutes.

So, if you don’t keep track of the amount of time you spend on email, you risk spending an inordinate amount of time poring over your digital correspondence.

To keep things under control, Rozman times herself when she is checking her email.

“I give myself 30 minutes,” she says. “And in that 30 minutes, I have totally reviewed my inbox and answered anything that’s really urgent.”

3. Limit the number of times you check email
Many productivity experts recommend checking your inbox only twice a day, Rozman says, and not even looking at it until the second hour of your workday.

“They say that if you were not to look at your email and instead focus on a high-priority task first thing in the morning,” she says, “you would increase your productivity by 10%.”

What further helps your productivity is the positive mindset that comes from completing an important task, as opposed to having spent the morning scrolling through your inbox.

4. Unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe
An enormous amount of clutter goes into people’s inboxes every day, Rozman says. And it’s usually mail they don’t even want to see.

If you receive newsletters and updates from retailers and publications but find you’re not even glancing at them, take yourself off their lists. This simple step will save you the time of sorting or deleting them. Commercial emails should include an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the message.

This is the third instalment in a four-part series on email management.

Next: How to write effective emails quickly.