double-handling and wasted effort. Here’s how it
applies to the points David Allen makes.
It’s a process for capturing the things that
need your attention
The first step is to Triage the inbox by choosing an
appropriate level of priority (low, normal, high)
and identifying the next action required for that
email. This next action can be typed directly into
a Next Action column in your inbox so you don’t
have to re-read and re-analyse the email to find
out what needs to be done. This saves enormous
amounts of time and mental energy—cutting
through the overload and overwhelm like a hot
knife through butter. It’s not actually the volume
of emails you receive that causes overload—it’s
the reading the same email three, five, eight or
more times before taking action that overwhelms
you.
The mental rigour to clarify and decide what
the things mean to you
This can be made much easier by scheduling
specific times into your calendar to address email,
allowing your mind time and space for the deeper
level thinking required. Email is a legitimate and
important aspect of your work that you must keep
up with, yet almost nobody blocks out time in
their calendar or schedule to attend to it.
You schedule time for meetings, phone
appointments, tele-conferences, webinars and so
on. Each of these can be defined as ‘a conversation
with one or more other people’. They are
important. You block time in your calendar for
them. As a result, you tend to keep up with them.
So, why not email? Isn’t it also ‘a
conversation’? Meetings are a verbal conversation
(with or without a visual component as well),
whereas email is a digital or written conversation.
More and more of our conversations have shifted
from verbal channels to written ones such as
email, text, Linkedin, Facebook and other social
media. However, it takes more mental effort and
focus to be effective with written conversations
than with verbal ones. Yet we don’t give dedicated
time and attention to email and then wonder why
we struggle to keep up on our inbox.
By blocking specific times in the calendar, you
can transform email from a reactive, unplanned
and distracted conversation into one you give your
full attention, at a dedicated time, allowing you to
handle email both quicker and more effectively.
A trusted system for organising the resulting
to-do items
By adding a ‘Due Date’ or ‘When’ column to the
inbox, and setting up a default view that groups
email by these dates, it brings the appropriate
email back to your attention at the appropriate
time—only when you need to action it, and not
before. This way your view of the inbox is not
cluttered by seeing all of your email—you only see
what you need, where you need to see it, when
you need to see it and in order of priority.
The personal discipline to take action
This process of identifying the priority, next
action and due date for each email minimises the
amount of effort, willpower and self-discipline
needed to keep up with everything. It is so much
easier to follow this new process with minimal
double-handling and wasted effort.
The proof of this can be seen in some feedback
from EAs who have learned this new process.
“Didn’t check my emails anywhere near as
often today and when I did, I added my next
action, added my date and like magic the email
disappeared until the date I’m ready to deal with
it—I’m so excited!”
Amanda Bultitude,
EA to the CEO, McDonalds Corporation
“I am now on day three and I have to say I can’t
believe the incredible difference my learnings are
making and the approach to my day. In particular
the Triage system has allowed me to plan my day
accordingly and I feel much more organised.”
Deborah Wyborn,
EA and National McCopCo Coordinator
“I feel like a ton of bricks has just been lifted from
my shoulders.”
Kathryn Baldock,
EA, Development & Community Services, Indigo Shire
What each of these diligent, hard-working people
have learnt is a new cutting edge process for
managing their inbox that works in today’s fast-
paced and hectic business environment. Most of
us are using pretty much the same skillset today
as when we first started using email up to 20 years
ago. But in that time, the volumes, demands,
workload and urgency of email has increased
exponentially.
Understanding what email represents, when to
use it and how to put the tools available to use will
revolutionise the way you look at email. Following
these steps and learning best practice can be a
professional life saver. Getting control of your
email can save enormous amounts of time, reduce
your stress, allow you to be more productive
in the workplace and enhance your ability to
support your executive. S
THE EXPERT
Steuart Snooks is an
email and workplace
productivity expert
who works with busy
professionals to help
them get control
of all their emails.
He has developed a
series of workshops,
presentations, webinars,
coaching and resources
that outline the best
practice skills for
mastering your email.
www.steuartsnooks.com.au
Issue 3 2019 | Chief of Staff 57