Tips To Be More Productive In 2011 (Part 7/Part 8/Part9)
Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 10:29AM A couple of weeks ago, we talked about Getting Healthier and Shopping Smarter. This week, we talk about managing one of the most efficient, yet biggest time killers of our day and age: Information Overload!
7. Manage Email - Did this year feel like being a slave to your email? Follow these tips to help regain control over email, and your life!
- Set a time frame: Only check email at certain times of the day, or even week. Don't work at your computer with email on all the time...email is a big distraction, and you will be much more productive without it on all the time. The truth: the world is not going to end if you don’t check your email every ten minutes! And more often than not, obsessive email checking is used to kill time, not because we really need to be in constant contact.
- Use Gmail: If you are using a different web based email then waste no time in switching to Gmail. Switching will make you much more productive. Gmail has some amazing features, including filters keyboard shortcuts, and if you use a desktop client like Outlook or Thunderbird, then Gmail also provides for IMAP, which makes life much easier.
- Prioritize using Labels / Folders: It is very important to differentiate the important emails from the unimportant ones. Practically all email clients allow you to set filters, which will automatically apply labels and re-route incoming mail to specific folders. You can make folders named "Friends," "Reply Today," "Upcoming Trip," etc. Then, when you open your inbox, emails will already be shifted to their respective folders, and you can go right to the important emails first.
- Be Precise: Be precise and to the point when answering emails. You could even skip "Hello" and "Regards" if you want; I don't think anyone will mind...Learn to use one-liners effectively. Use copy and paste to incorporate repetitive texts in form emails.
- Delete Ruthlessly: Don't save email you think might be useful later...rarely will you ever use it again. Information from other sources is just too available these days. Often, the subject line will tell you whether you even want to read an email or not...if not, delete it.
- Don't leave it for the next day: Try and finish replying to the emails and clearing your inbox within the time frame you decided. I know, it's not always possible, especially if you get more than 100 emails a day, but if the emails go pending then the next day it becomes much more difficult for you to sift through your inbox. Think of your inbox like a snowball, the more it rolls, the larger it gets.
8. Use Your Cell phone the Right Way - Just can't keep that phone away for a second? Too hooked to it? It's time you free yourself from its shackles. Take calls only at certain times and during emergencies, never during a meal, time with your friends, or a nap, and ONLY if you know who is calling.
9. Speed Up Web Browsing - Needless to say, a major chunk of your time this year will be consumed in browsing the web.
A. Specify specific times for browsing, and avoid endless surfing. Depending on your profession, you need to keep up on news and trends and opinions. But there are sites that are “work-oriented” and sites that just plain aren’t. Stay away from the "just plain aren'ts."
B. Use RSS feeds for your favorite information providers.
C. Tools like PageAddict and RescueTime will help you follow where you spend your time online. A reality check is much needed, since most of us aren’t even aware of how many hours we spend on truly useless distractions, or constantly checking and rechecking our favorite social sites.
D. While absorbing new information is never a waste of time, staring at the same stuff all day certainly is. Bookmarks and search histories are great for accessing the sites we visit most often. Unfortunately, they also tend to trap us in a pattern of checking and rechecking the same sites over and over again. Most people don’t “browse” the web so much as retrace their old steps. Not only does this waste time, it limits our ability to learn new things and explore new areas of the internet.
E. Instead of checking your favorite news and social media sites repeatedly throughout the day, give yourself a nice, healthy dose first thing in the morning, and then move on. Not only are you not going to miss anything during the productive hours of your day, there will be that much more to see when you return for another dose in the evening.
Reader Comments (2)
says "late summer, 2011" - so I'm guessing that means August/September?-Alain Silberstein Swiss watches
It is a very interesting topic also this tools sure help like rescuetime I've been using this tool and it works a lot for met. It help me manage my time more efficiently and more organize. Having distraction in work are can't be avoid. Also this tool will help you focus on work and easy to use. And the key to be successful in being productive is self control. It would be useless to use this tools if you don't help your self.