Here’s a little tip to improve focus that I picked up after a few experiences this past week.
It’s so simple. I probably should have “clicked” about this much sooner.
The change I’m now making is…
I’m only going to check email… and look at social media messages… when I can also reply to them at the same time.
Not earth-shattering.
But is certainly shaking up MY world.
Until now, I’ve been checking email first thing in the morning. Just in case there’s something urgent from a customer.
But I also read through all my waiting email. Just because it’s my “checking email” time.
I go in, only expecting to whip through it quickly.
Reason is… my number one focus at the start of the day is writing my daily email. And I want to get to that without delay.
Then I move on to project work. Like products I’m developing.
I’ll come back to communication-related things later on in the day.
Problem is…
When I’m doing my quick email check. There’ll be replies needed for some of them.
So I make a note in my calendar to do email replies. Or reply to a specific person, later on.
But by the time I’ve made a note about replying later… my brain’s already written half of it.
Then I’m either compelled to make extra notes about critical things I thought up. That I don’t want to forget for my reply.
Or I just TRY to ignore my brain’s shouting. And hope the inspiration will return later.
But worse…
Even if I make some notes to ensure I don’t miss anything… the un-replied-to email haunts me.
Like Dementors encircling Hogwarts… the ideas continue to make their ominous presence felt throughout my morning.
So I end up with this big distractionfest…
While I’m supposed to be having my focused work time!
When later on I reply to the email… I’ve most likely forgotten what I was going to say when I first read the email. 😠
Plus, my brain’s already spent triple-time on this… compared to simply replying straight away after reading the email the first time!
But this week’s goose laid me a golden egg…
Because it struck me… and it’s probably so simple that you’re already saying. “Duh, Chris! Why aren’t you doing this already?” …
I’m going to split my morning email check in two.
One is a quick check. Just for emergency items. Like things sent to my helpdesk from customers.
Then I’ll come back after my focused morning work is over. When I have a block of 30 to 60 minutes to read through other things… AND can reply STRAIGHT AWAY!
This will save a phenomenal amount of time and energy.
It’s kinda fun to have simple “aha!” moments like this.
Because it means I’ll become more efficient. And less distracted.
But also because I’ve learned… and am putting into action… something new.
And this old dog likes picking up a new trick or two from time to time!
If you’d like to learn a new trick, like how to build your email list…
Go here…
EmailForTheWin.com
Chris Milham