The Email Habit

This one in particular really resonated with me.

The Email Habit

Email is toxic. As a freelancer you can easily become what’s commonly known as a busy fool. You might spend a significant part of your day just sending and receiving email without ever getting any work done. Instead, be in the habit of controlling email, and not letting it control you.

To do this you need to:

• Turn off all the little reminders, message counts, and other indicators that may catch your eye
• Configure your email client to run a “send and receive” at longer intervals, maybe as little as once per hour
• Set aside blocks of time in the day to deal with all email, then switch it off; if something is urgent, people will use the phone
• Use the ‘touch it once’ philosophy; fully read and deal with every email you open, instead of half-reading some and coming back to them later

See more tips and habits like this.

What are some of the things you do to make you a more efficient and effective professional? If you have any tips please share them!