The scenario
The volume of work I have to deal with every day is insane. The e-mails, voicemails and BlackBerry pings are driving me crazy. How do I create time to stay ahead of the curve and not always get mired in the tyranny of the urgent?
The advice
Information overload is a constant complaint these days. Here are some ideas on how to cope more effectively with the flood of communication:
Set clear priorities
Without clear priorities, it is easy to be distracted by the endless stream of short-term crises and other people's requests. Keeping your eye on the bigger picture is critical. Set priorities for the year, the quarter and each week, so you know where you need to spend your time.
Self-discipline for the self
Once the priorities are set, your day needs to match them. Block off the time you need to get your projects done. We are all very good at making time for others, but when it comes time to book off meetings with ourselves, we tend to be less rigid. Get in the habit of actually "blocking" off time to get to the bigger projects, so that other distractions don't eat up your day.
Manage your e-mail
If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: E-mail is the biggest time waster in the modern working world. Until you find a way to effectively manage e-mail, it will continue to distract you and eat up valuable time.
Here are some simple ideas to tame that beast:
Turn off the audio ping, so you are not distracted every time an e-mail arrives. (Mine just pinged moments ago and I snuck a peek to see who it was - it was a waste of time and I lost my train of thought.)
Never check e-mail first thing in the morning. For most people, that's the most productive time, so you're better off setting it aside to organize your day and tackle your burning projects first, rather than becoming instantly distracted by someone else's.
Set aside one or two times a day to review e-mails (noon and 4 p.m., for instance). Don't check them at other times. Have your auto-responder communicate this and invite people to call you directly if the matter can't wait until the designated times.
Commit
It can be easy to set your priorities. It can be easy to block off the time for your own work. It can even be easy to manage your e-mail. But it will be impossible to actually make any of that happen unless you commit to these goals. And the definition of commitment is this - 100 per cent. No wiggle room. If you say you're 80-per-cent committed, you are actually saying you are zero-per-cent committed, because commitment is all or nothing.
You will be able to tame the overload beast only when you decide to commit to a new way of working.
Katie Bennett is a leadership coach and speaker and head of Double Black Diamond Coaching.
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