Email Overload

by Judy Klipin

This blog is helping me to keep track of how I spend my time!  I am somewhat ashamed to admit that, until now, I paid little attention to how I filled my working days.

This last week or so of writing this blog has made me realize how much time I spend on admin and, in particular, on emails.  I really need to streamline my computer time, and only answer emails at certain set hours of the day.

I have a very short attention span for anything outside of being in a coaching session.  Even if it is my own coaching session – i.e. if I am the one who is being coached- I struggle to focus for more than a few minutes.  Unless I am in the coaching seat, I am easily distracted.  Every time I hear the ping of an email landing in my mailbox, or see the red number appear on the stamp at the bottom of my screen, I feel compelled to check my mail.  Just in case it is something earth-shattering.  Or, at the very least, my-small-corner-of-the-world-shattering.

The day I got an email from Penguin books saying they would like to publish my book was a definite highlight.  Last week I got a very exciting email from one of my favourite magazines asking me to be involved in a lovely project.  But it is all under discussion still so I can’t talk about it yet…. I did just get an email from Martha Beck telling me about her latest adventure and inviting me to stay at her new home.  Emails from Martha always give me a thrill and make me laugh.

But on the whole the emails I receive are pretty middle of the road.  Increasingly they are notices that I am the beneficiary of some anonymous donor in a far-flung country, but on the whole the emails I receive are run of the mill and work related.

Questions about how I work, requests for appointments, requests for changes to appointment times, requests by journalists for input comments on coaching-related articles….

Most of the emails I receive require specific responses and so I can’t just send out a form letter.   I also don’t feel comfortable with anyone else answering my mails because I feel very strongly about honouring the confidentiality of my interactions – even if the emails do not result in the writer becoming a client.

Between trying to read every mail as it comes in (unless I am in a coaching session in which case all technology is firmly off) and responding to all the mails that require a reply (i.e. not the ones asking for my banking details in order to get the millions of dollars promised to me) I spend a lot of time on electronic correspondence.

Honestly, this morning all I did was reply to and send mails.  And then I had three client sessions this afternoon so was out of the email loop I now have mails that I still need to respond to this evening.

Because I am such an immediate gratification junkie, I like to respond to emails on the day that I receive them but I am now realising that this is becoming untenable.

I am going to experiment with answering mails once a day, between 8 and 10am.

I will let you know how it goes….

Feeling overwhelmed in your life, work or relationships?

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