I grew up on Vancouver Island, our first computer ran MS-DOS and had 256 Colors, sick. My School got a whole new computer lab when I was in Grade 3 and the one thing I can remember is playing Minesweeper and Oregon Trail…and of course all the Phonetics and Math programs. 1995 rolled around an we upgraded to a new machine, in my 8 year old mind more colors better games. The thing I loved about all these computers is I was all on my own to figure them out, like a puzzle without a picture.
I.
LOVE
IT.
That being said, (sorry if this comes off preachy) but I still don’t think that we’ve had a generation where parents are as on top of technology as their kids. To set boundaries and appropriate usage and (this is highlighted every time I get a if you don’t forward this to 20 people you’ll have a bad luck for 7 years).
Holy crap, as I’m looking back over this post and looking how long it’s getting I’ll cut to the chase.
How do you deal with Email?
Who taught you how to deal with email?
If your answers are “…” and “me” do I have a video for you:
I would go so far as to say that this 59 minute video has been the most influential video I have ever watched and has saved me DAYS of my times. I watched it 3-5 times in the last two years just to refresh the core concepts.
- Process to Zero, I love to press the “Get Mail” button and see all those messages come in…then do something else. EVERY TIME you check your email you PROCESS EVERY MESSAGE (Delete, Delgate, Respond, Defer, Do) and empty that Inbox
- Do Email less, if you use a Mail Client (Outlook, Mail etc) turn off that “check every minute” box. Make checking email a conscious choice, not a flashing light that is constantly going “Ding Ding Ding DING DING DING” all day. I now check my email ONCE in the morning and ONCE at night. Don’t worry about bosses/clients freaking out. If you keep to a consistent schedule and let people know how you work they will respect that, trust me.
- Keep it short, how many messages are you not responding to because you think it’ll take too long to write? What can’t you say in Five Sentences?
If you watch the video comment below and let me know what you thought !