1. Use boomerang for gmail to control pace of incoming mail
Boomerang for gmail is a great tool to control the flow of emails you receive over the course of a day. Many of us have the gmail app on our phone and can turn an email chain into a text conversation. The emails pop up constantly on your screen and if you respond right away to a couple emails, it’s hard to stop cold and start ignoring the other incoming emails. By using boomerang, you can write a draft response and then schedule it to send at a later time/date. This way you can mediate the flow of the conversation and avoid getting into a continuous back and forth that will eat up all of your attention.
2. Batch important tasks
Many of us have a laundry list of things to do throughout the day. Whether it’s taking out the trash, doing the laundry, or doing the dishes, it can be easy to put these off until you get through the day and realize you haven’t completed any of them. It helps to batch the tasks like these all together and just plough through them as fast as you can. This eliminates procrastination and incentivizes you to work efficiently in order to complete the list and move on with your day.
3. Block a time twice a day to check emails
If you are someone who has a high influx of emails on a daily basis it can be distracting to continuously answer them as they come in. Your brain will jump from one thing to another without being able to focus on the task at hand. It can be advantageous to block a set time twice a day to only focus on emails. This way you know you won’t get anxious by not responding immediately because you will at a later time. You will also be able to focus 100% of your attention on your unread emails at the specified time because the rest of your daily “to do” list will be completed.
4. If a task can be done in under 5 minutes, do it now
Whether it’s sending a fax or scheduling an appointment, it’s better to get it done when it comes across your plate than to put it off and tell yourself “I’ll do it later”. These no brainer tasks all though simple, can add up, and waste mental energy over time if you don’t take care of them. If it’s something mindless but something that needs accomplishing and it won’t take more than 5 minutes, just get it done and move on.
5. Silence your phone and turn it over
This is a method I have developed over years of being involved in group texts while at work. Yes you are at work and supposed to be productive but let’s be honest, everyone texts during work. Most of us put our phones on vibrate or if we are smart, on silent, in order to not be distracted by a constant buzzing every couple minutes. I have found from working at a computer and having my phone on the desk in front of me, that silencing my phone isn’t enough. I will still see the phone light up when a text comes through and be compelled to answer it. That’s why I silence my phone and turn it over in order to completely remove the possibility of me being distracted when someone texts me. This allows me to not think about my phone or catch it lighting up out of the corner of my eye and focus on the task at hand.