Be Sane and Sensible – Decide to Decide
If you want to control your email instead of having it control you, then one of the first changes to make in your mindset is this…decide to decide. Here’s what I mean by that…
Get it into your head before you ever sit down to work on your email that you are a decision maker! If you aren’t ready to make decisions then don’t even get started. Because decision-making is a major aspect of being sane and sensible in your email practices, trying to work on email when you are emotionally and intellectually exhausted is not wise and in fact, is ridiculous.
Know this: It takes a certain amount of energy to make decisions, doesn’t it? And often, professionals don’t think of email as an area of their work that involves MANY decisions. If you’re not up to making decisions, then don’t open your email because all you will do is dink around (a technical phrase) in there and leave a lot of clutter. Remember, as Barbara Hemphill says, “Clutter is postponed decisions.(R)”
So, be decisive. When you sit down to process email, decide to decide. Be decisive. It’s
- Yes,
- No,
- Keep,
- Save,
- Answer,
- Ignore, and
- So forth.
There really are a limited number of decisions – but you really do have to make one of them (at least!) for each email in your in-box. You can decide to delete, to defer, to do (what a concept!), or to delegate it to someone else. Make decisions. That’s what leaders do.
Get it? Decide to decide. If you have the energy, go to our email right now and see how many clear decisions you can make in 10 minutes. Make that your habit.
And if you would like additional ways of getting and staying productive, then please join others (worldwide) who receive Meggin’s weekly emails (and see what is available for download at no cost at the following websites):
**Top Ten Productivity Tips (http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com)
**Keys to Keeping Chaos at Bay (http://www.KeepingChaosatBay.com)
(c) 2009 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!
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