So, how long is it?
Ok, I fess. Perhaps it’s not as long as should be could be.
But, after throwing a pity fit last week, I’m growing excited about the progress made since taking on Mark’s Time Management series.
I’m a workaholic. I’m used to waking my computer around 5am or earlier. And shutting down around 11pm or later. Weekends and holidays. Trains, planes, cars and hotel rooms.
Bouncing through the back roads of Kenya found me with laptop on my lap. Praying my battery would hold out.
Bali was one of the few holidays where my computer was quiet. Reason? Being exhausted from the overwork it took just to take the time off, I slept through most of the trip.
But now, learning how time management works for me, I’m pushing myself away from the keys most evenings and larger chunks of my weekends.
An unexpected plus? I’m sleeping longer.
An unexpected minus? Because I’m sleeping longer, my back feels like it’s breaking in two.
No matter.
I’m gaining more free time by weaning myself away from emails (mostly) at night and (mostly) during the weekends. Two weekends so far.
Mostly, not completely. Some replies need to be made. And others, well, I’m just made that way.
It feels great.
And it feels lonely sometimes.
And I bet you are wondering how I did it.
By taking Mark’s advice in Get Things Done by Putting Them Off Till Tomorrow.
Mark suggests taking emails from today, and placing them into a folder for tomorrow.
That didn’t work for me in the exact same way as I’m a ‘out of sight, out of mind’ type of lass.
How do I know?
Because I tried it last year. I put all my URGENT emails into their own folder. And there they sat.
I believe they were still there when my macmail went down. Swallowing them alive.
So what I did was tweak Mark’s advice to develop my own version of putting emails off to tomorrow (and further).
Batching it, I go through emails and:
- trash
- mark as spam, then trash (this happens rarely with gmail)
- answer the quickies (one sentence responses), then trash or label and archive
- answer urgent, then label and archive (unless I need a visual reminder in my inbox)
- leave in inbox if the response will take more time
- without reading (so they still have screaming bold and black text) if it’s a batch response I label and archive
By leaving unanswered emails in the inbox, I know what I need to get back to at some point.
And if I’m snowed under, I have the 50 rule. If my inbox has reached 50 unanswered emails, I try to make the time to answer soon. Or then. Depending.
What works for me might not work for you. Taking the time to read Mark’s well written post Get Things Done by Putting Them Off Till Tomorrow could save you time. It has for me.
My responses to Mark’s weekly questions:
What difference would it make to your work if you knew every morning how much work you had to get through that day?
It would be a dream. I still have too many outside distractions taking me away from my work. It’s getting less, but as it’s only been a week I’m keeping to the ‘I’ll have to wait and see’ of the past five weeks.
Apart from ‘do it tomorrow’ how else could you create ‘buffers’ between incoming demands and your response?
Good question. I’m still at the mercy of workmen (as well as other non email distractions). If I don’t make time to go with their schedule, things don’t get done (delivered, fixed, created).
I’m told a reno is like that. That life feels like it’s always going to be chaos.
But, the dust has settled. The reno to-do list is shrinking to a short list. My time will come.
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