Managing Email Notifications To Boost Productivity

My email inbox was killing me. A few years back, I couldn't go more than about 15 minutes without checking my email. At work, I always had it open to see when a new notification came through. At home, I would check it on my phone regularly. I needed to see if a new referral came in. I needed to know if the prosecutor had responded. I needed to know if a client had made a payment. It was obsessive. Doing this at work was one thing. It was hard to focus on any task because I would consistently get distracted by emails, even the unimportant ones. Doing this at home was even worse. I could never fully enjoy the time I got to spend with my family. I tried a few different strategies but finally settled on one. At work, I keep my email closed, and depending on the day, I set aside 10 minutes at the beginning of every hour to check it and respond to the important ones. I then spend time at the end of my work day clearing out the unimportant emails from my inbox. In addition, and this was the hardest step of all, I removed all email apps from my phone. Some may say it was drastic, but it was the only thing that would work for me. I had to quit cold turkey. Occasionally it can be a pain when I'm in court and need to pull out my laptop to search for a specific email. But the payoffs are much more important. By placing even a small barrier between me and my email when away from my work, my mind can finally focus on what is in front of me, a beautiful life that I love living. *** For tips on how to run a successful law firm that you and your clients love, subscribe to my weekly newsletter "The Business of Criminal Law". The link is in the comments below. 👇 ***

“I hope this email finds you…” I hope FEWER emails find all of you. But when they (inevitably) do find you, follow 3-21-0: • 3 email processing sessions daily • 21 minutes per session • 0 emails left (goal of inbox zero) I first learned of this method from author Kevin Kruse. Today, you’ll get a proven plan to execute it. — First, why follow 3-21-0? Batching. The most successful people of the future will be those who can focus and go deep into their work. Batching email limits distraction and protects non-batching times for valuable "deep work" activities. — How to execute 3-21-0: Block 3, 21-minute sessions on your calendar. Practical times: • 9:30-9:51 AM • 1:00-1:21 PM • 4:30- 4:51 PM Avoid checking email outside these times (if possible). Kill notifications. — Your digital environment is either producing clarity or complexity. Choose clarity with the 3-21-0 Method. ⬳ Find this useful? Repost to help your network too, and follow me for more.

Want to free up 10-60 minutes per day? Try this e-mail productivity tip (the 4 D's) Every e-mail should be actioned by one of these 4 D's: Do it. Delete. Delegate. Delay. Many waste so much time re-reading e-mails, or lose productivity switching between getting work done and being distracted by e-mail alerts popping up. DO IT Quickly take action on emails that you can handle in 2 minutes or less. I live by the 2-minute rule and get through most e-mails during my 2-3 calendared e-mail dedicated times per day, usually leaving work with nothing in my inbox...and I get 100’s of e-mails a day. Bonus Tips: 1. See your e-mail when you decide to see it by setting aside specific time in your calendar each day to review and action your inbox. 2. Turn off e-mail notifications. Stop getting distracted every time a new e-mail message comes in; e-mail is not the forum for emergencies. See comments for how to do this in Outlook. DELETE Delete e-mails that are non-actionable and do not need to be kept for future reference. Get it out of your inbox. If you hate deleting, at least archive them away so they are not in your inbox. DELEGATE. Delegate e-mails containing actions that others can complete. Include what you would like the receiver to do and by when. DEFER/DELAY. Send emails to your task list that can wait, will take more than 2 minutes to complete, or will require your full focus. If you need time to complete an action from the e-mail, drag it directly to a calendar invite and book the time to do it. Or, if you use tasks, you can drag the e-mail to the task icon and then update the subject with a clear description so you know what you will do with that e-mail and can save time from having to read it all again. What other e-mail productivity tips work for you?