Is Email Ruining Your Life?
Jim Edwards here with an update I think you’ll really enjoy…
It’s an article I just wrote for my newspaper column about how to tame the email beast once and for all.
If you spend more than 2 hours a *week* on email, this article was meant for you!
This runs in my newspaper column tomorrow, but you get the "scoop" today 
To your success,
Jim
PS – By the way, if you’d like to comment on this article, please drop me a line below… I’d love to hear from you!
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Is Email Ruining Your Life?
– by Jim Edwards
© Jim Edwards – All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
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Recently I started reading a book with a seemingly
improbable title, "The 4-Hour Workweek" by Timothy Ferris.
In the book, Ferris makes a number of assertions about how
we all, whether employed or self-employed, can work less and
enjoy life more through leverage.
He makes some excellent points and I’d encourage you to read
the book.
A couple of pages in the book, however, caused me to re-
think one specific activity I engage in on an almost hourly
basis -email!
Though I’ve tried to "tame" the email tiger in the past, I
always seem to slide back into the habit of whacking the
"send / receive" button every 15 minutes and getting side
tracked.
But, this book reminded me that I really need to start
living (again) by the "5 Golden Rules" I suggest for
everyone else.
Rule #1 – Only Check Email Twice Daily
It amazes me how many people tell me they go out of town or
on vacation and only check email once daily and the world
keeps on turning.
If you can do it on vacation, why can’t you do it at home?
Only check email two times daily.
I’ve chosen 12:00 noon and 4:00 p.m. as my times and plan to
cut that down to just once a day at 4:00 within the next 60
days.
Rule #2 – Separate Business and Personal
Operate with a different email box for both your business
and personal email.
This keeps personal crisis from spilling over into business
and vice versa.
That way if you must "cheat" a little because of a special
project, you reduce your chances of getting derailed with an
email that could have waited if you never saw it.
Rule #3 – Eliminate Customer Support Email
Never handle customer support via email, especially if you
handle your own customer support.
Always route every bit of customer support through a help
desk system that tracks each "ticket" and communication with
the customer.
Also, this enables you to manage people’s expectations about
when they’ll receive a reply since you can place hours of
operation on a help desk.
Rule #4 – Not Every Email Warrants Response
Somewhere along the line, many of us adopted the belief that
every email message needs a response from us.
NO!
If an email needs to get deleted with no response, do it and
don’t feel guilty about it.
Rule #5 – An Empty In-box Equals Bliss
Never, ever, under any circumstances leave email messages in
you in-box to handle them later.
You won’t handle them later and it just leaves you with a
general sense of uneasiness about leaving things incomplete.
At the end of the day, take one of three actions on every
message in your in-box:
1. Delete it
2. Refer it to someone else
3. File it in an email folder
Supposedly email would make all our lives better, but that
little dream train ran off the tracks for me back in 1997.
Don’t let email dictate everything from your work hours to
your general mood, or even whether you have a "good" day or
not.
Take control of email and use it as a tool, not as an excuse
to feel productive when all you really succeed at is wasting
time.
—-
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-
author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to
work less, get paid more… and have tons more fun!
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32 Responses
My modification of rule number 5 is to make sure at the end of the business day that all e-mail up to yesterday is handled. In this way, you can plan and be sure you finish this. Otherwise a last moment e-mail disrupts this plan. Not all email deservers same day treatment.
Hi Jim,
Classic, just been on holiday for 3 weeks and yes I managed to save checking my emails to every 2 days.
I work from home so I we give your 2 times a today suggestion a go!
Have Fun & Take Action
Scott Wilson
http://www.TheEntrepreneursCopyWriter.com
Good points Jim. I will have to give them a try.
These are good rules if you want things done. I already follow the four of them, but I must confess that I have a far from empty inbox. I must work more on that.
I agree with your comments Jim. Sounds like a good way of becoming more productive. I’ll definitely try them out.
Dave Fraser
http://www.pcsandthings.com
Funny how people complain about advertising on e-mail and also buy a newspaper or magazine and some contain nothing but advertizing. God said, “Six days shall ye labor” and man has been trying to change it ever since. Still boils down to the fact that it is how you respond to what you go through that makes the difference in your life. Thanks for all the great thoughts! Margaret Leeds
I’ve had real success with checking e-mails only 5 times a week (once a day and never on weekends). It certainly feels like bliss.
It does take some discipline to limit the e-mail trap! I get caught up in all of the must have offers from the gurus. I unsubscribed from all but a few trusted sources. This helped immensely!
Ted
Greetings Jim,
Racing to answer every email as soon as it comes in can give the impression that we are desperate and that we have nothing else to do. Whereas waiting for a time and then answering can show that we are busy and are someone worth doing business with.
This runs against our natural instinct, but is important psychology if we wish to retain control in selling situations.
If we have a website, then we are selling.
Well said Jim! If there is one thing I hate it is the amount of email I get.
I’m going to put your suggestions into use starting today.
“The Power of an Idea is in its Implementation!”
Best Regards
Chris Bloor
I had already separated my email into personal and business. Helped a lot.
My goal is to close the day with most everything either deleted or filed in appropriate folders.
Good on ya!
LindaP
I agree with Ted. Just start unsubscribing. I have now just a few subscribed lists of those (you are one I keep)I trust and respect. This launch and this product seems to have their own opt-in list so it’s like to see a product you really are opting in twice; one for the affiliate who is promoting something and then the product owner. No wonder we get so many emails. Are these good lists? I haven’t finished a site that is up and running but I would rather build slow reliable traffic with people who truly want whatever I have to offer than constantly making a visitor opt-in and then get frustrated and delete.
Great post Jim.
I had previously whittled myself down to checking email twice daily, but your post reminded me I have fallen back into my old habits.
I keep numerous email accounts and have my business emails separated by topic to these different accounts.
This way, I handle the important stuff in a timely manner and the less critical only if I feel in the mood.
By the way, your emails come to my main (important to follow up) account.
Regards,
Gene
This is a hot topic, Jim.
Is there enough demand out there to warrant the creation of e-mail coaches?!!
I think some great ideas were mentioned…
*split email into personal and professional.
*unsubscribe from lists
*checking email less often
all these will work to quell the distraction. I’m in.
Nancy
Good stuff Jim,
I have noted that some sites use a “Catch all” for domains -meaning they get …..everything@thedomain.com
I get very little spam because I only recieve email from paule or paul – all webmaster@mydomain.com or info@mydomain.com etc goes my hosting junk mail- never gets to me
last count 4150….junk messages…got to help…..
Best Regards
Paul Easton
http://www.DigitalAwol.com/
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Amen. I was extreme example as in house atty, received 100+ emails/day – I use to spend 4-8hrs a day on email and my inbox routinely held 300-550 emails awaiting responses! As everything was urgent had send/receive set to 3 minutes. Have now changed to 1/hr which helped tremendously. (THink that was from how to gain an extra hour each day email) Celebrated last month when had 10 emails in inbox, and actually 0 for about 3 hours. Its up to 30 but trying to move/answer or delete when ever review. I plan to implement this and take more stress out of my life. Also unsubscribing to just a few (Jim of course) helps. Soon will have time to finish delevopment of my online legal products.
Email like cell phones has resulted in too much connectivity – more stress and less time. Now if only someone comes up with an auto responder for cell phones (if you do give me credit for sparking the idea!).
Great ideas!
Big question…Help desk software. Would you recommend some helpdesk services/software? This is not as easy as it appears. So many of the services are out of the country or expensive.
Thanks for your help
Re: Help Desk Software
We use Kayako.com on our own server (bought full license)… works well, isn’t cheap, but isn’t a bank-breaker either.
Jim
Hi Jim,
You are so right on the money with this one!
I used to be an email addict and like you, I would not be able to stop myself checking every 15-20 minutes. Crazy!
I stopped all that a while ago as I wasn’t getting any work done and it was taking me much longer to produce a new product.
I now check once in the morning and once late afternoon and that’s it.
I also hit the delete key so much more now and try to reduce my email box at every visit (i’m getting there)!
regards
Roy Carter
Hi Jim and All,
Well, landed late at this place and thus there’s not much left for me to write, but I have two important points -
1. Setup filters so that you don’t have to delete the same junk mail everyday
2. Get rid of Spam
An interesting topic, looking for more from your side.
take care
Rajesh
Hi Jim,
I read Timothy Ferris’ book a while back before the huge online buzz started about it. His approach to email struck a nerve with me immediately and I decided to follow suit (“Don’t check email first thing in the a.m.” as well as limiting to twice a day at prescribed times). It has helped me be so much more productive in my overworked life. Another bit of advice he gave has also helped tremendously: Each night make a list of only 2-3 (max) crucial tasks to complete the next day. Great for productivity and avoiding becoming distracted by other less crucial tasks that can wait. When you’ve completed those, you have unexpected free time, or you can do some of those little annoying things that have to be done.
I agree… everyone should read his book!
Beth
I am primary an affiliate marketer, and I just started to create my own products.
I run into this problem now. As an affiliate, I used to connect when I want, but now I need to check my email for customers service, and paypal not redirecting, etc.. Everyday!
This is insane. I need to find a way to outsource this. For example, I wasn’t going to check my email today, but I did.
Don’t get me wrong, I like to be a product creator!
Jim,
Your post has changed my perception, thank you!
Thank you for suggesting Kayako! Also, would you suggest ARP3 as an autoresponder, or if you had to do it all over again starting today, would you use Aweber/GetResponse etc?
Thank you!
Lamar
Jim you hit the nail right on the head. It’s like most of us know what to do but we just don’t do it. Thanks for making the obvious much more clear.
Brian
http://www.StephensonandCompany.com
Thank you
I find that i spend ages just going through my emails
Unfortunately i think your correspondence is a very important part of your business. When you think about it this is probably the only way we are directly contacted by our clients, unless you have telephone support. In my business it is the one task that i think i should do myself. Correct me if i am wrong
Abi
http://www.affiliatemarketingintro.com
A 4-Hour workweek? I did already hear about this book via different ‘channels’, I myself already have an ‘alternative’ workweek and able to control – a big part – of my own hours, Nevertheless it seems to be an interesting book anyway.
O.K. About Taming the email Tiger…,
Thanks for letting me re-discovering my ‘system’…, euh.., I mean ‘Approach’ for dealing with email. Some years ago I worked in the ‘Fast Paced’ Music Business with an incredible time preassure. Currently I am in the process of re-discovering the system I used back than. I begun my week with making a ‘Week Folder’ and usually ‘archived’ for direct accessebility a maximum of 3 weeks. Currently I am re-designing my ‘approach’ for my current situation. Currently I work with the approach to Begin with an empty IN-Box, and begin to put everything in the trash!!! (unless it obviously doesn’t belong in the trash or is worth to be automatically re-directed into the appropriate folder.) Thanks for bringing it up. (I might actually write an ebook about it your have good guide lines for it:))
I would have to agree, email can be way too much sometimes. this is good advice.
Lamar,
If I had it to do all over again… I’d start off with Aweber
Jim
Excellent stuff, I am so glad you took the time to write about this addiction! I’ve been an email addict for years and I’m sure that’s why I don’t get more accomplished. I’m like one of the other people who commented, I’ve fallen prey to all of the “must have” offers from all of the gurus out there and it’s left me thinking I’m going to miss out on something. I’m going to work at following your advice. You’re right about not going back to do anything about th messages you kept in the inbox, thinking you’d get back to them later — it never happens! Keep up the great work!
I am not sure I agree with any of this…