Workload Master

Photo by Howard R. Hollem, October 1942

Earlier this week I gave you a list of principles to help you take control of your e-mail. Now I’ll get into some specifics. You may remember that I said to process your e-mail at specific times each day. I won’t get into the theory behind that now, just do it.

When you do sit down to do the processing it’s time to switch gears. You are now going to be the shipping/receiving clerk of your little knowledge factory. In a manufacturing or warehousing environment the shipping clerk has a very specific role. They receive new material (using a defined process) and send it to it’s proper place. That has to be your frame of mind in processing your new e-mail. It’s a very suble but important change in attitude. Keep this in mind.

The process is simple, deceivingly simple. It’s called the 4-D Process (somebody else made this up long ago but I like it and it works). You must consciously apply this to each and every message in you Inbox. Here it is:

1. Delete It - Let’s face it, a large percentage of E-mail is junk. This is quick and easy. If you may want something one day but not sure create a folder called Junk Drawer (or something like that) and drag it there. Outlook has a great search tool that will allow you to find anything quickly. Just get it out of your Inbox.
2. Do It Now – If you can do it in two minutes or less, then just get it done. But you have to be very ruthless with how long something will really takes to complete. You can eat up the rest of your day just by digging too deep into one message. Remember it’s processing time.
3. Do It Later – If it’s going to take longer than two minutes then Right-Click and drag and drop it into the Task Folder. Here you have the option to make a copy it as a task or convert it into a task thus removing it from the Inbox (I like the latter best). If you use a paper planner then drag it into a holding folder and schedule the task in your planner. We’ll talk about this in more detail in a later post.
4. Delegate It – Easier said than done I know. We can do a whole series on delegation so I won’t spend much time now. Just be sure the delegatee understands what’s going on and create a task for yourself for a later date to remind yourself that something is due from somebody else.

That’s it. It’s easy, but difficult to do consistently. Keep reminding yourself that It’s Processing Time. By the way this also applies to paper mail and dealing with piles of paper you’ve decided to finally deal with.

Note: To all of my friends and readers in the financial community. You probably don’t have time to read this right now because your Inbox (and voice mailbox) is probably overflowing. Hang in there. When you get around to it this technique will help you dig out.