Tame the email monster

I know this guy who has created on monster of an email system.  If lightening ever strikes his office building, his email will sprout bolts and scare the villagers.  We’re talking total carnage.  He has created a Frankenstein’s Monster of an Inbox.

Please don’t become victim of your inner email Frankenstein.  Here is a few email suggestions that should keep you save from torches and pitchforks.

Turn off notifications.  All they do is break our concentration.

Never merge or blend multiple accounts together.  One massive Inbox is too hard to clean up.  Procrastination sets in and the Inbox gets even bigger.

Don’t use email as a task list.  It is too easy to create a monster of a task list that never stops growing.

Do link data together.  Use tags and folders as often as possible.  It will make finding information much easier.

Set times to check email.  This is really hard, but essential to taming the monster. Continue this practice at home.

In the end we have to figure out what works best for ourselves.  But I think the five suggestions above will provide a good starting place.

What are your suggestions for taming email?  Leave your answers in the comments below. 

3 links to share

Scrolling through my Feedly list and wanted to share a few items from it.  Hope you enjoy them.  For a motivational lift, checkout the Tom Peters blog, where you’ll find some motivational gems.  Turns out 75% of Ikea’s catalog is computer generated imagery.  Really?  You can read about it here.   Inc.com has a nice little infographic about ways to change your schedule to be more productive.

Why not use one system to reach all your goals

Ever notice how much more effective we can be at our jobs than at home?  On the job we move projects forward and work toward goals.  But at home we often let things slide or happen as they happen.

One reason for this discrepancy in our lives is because we employ systems and tools at work but not at home.

There seems to be a theory that we can separate our personal life from our work life.  The theory goes so far as to assume that anything that reminds us of work shouldn’t be apart of our home life.

I’ve noticed that I often don’t want to use the same tools at home that I use at the office because I don’t want to be reminded about what is going on at the office.  I try to separate the two parts of life.  But I’m not successful at it.  It’s impossible.  Work and home affect each other and are components of life.

What I’ve come to realize is that systems like GTD, FranklinCovey, and lists are only truly effective if we use them all the time.  I know there are people out there saying, “of course you have to use them all the time”  But I’m willing to bet that there are tons of people who only use these systems from 9 – 5, Monday through Friday.

My system is built primarily around iCal, a notebook and three lists.  

iCal

I record my big rocks, things that are important or require specific times and dates.  Then I fill in the smaller less important items.  I always leave empty blocks of time throughout the day.

Notebook

I use a notebook to record thoughts and ideas about everything.  My notebooks are dated on the spine once I’ve worked through them and go into a box or on a shelf for reference.  I use notebooks to record progress on goals, start ideas, thoughts and reflect on the day.

Three Lists

I use the Reminders app that came with my iPod for the first two lists.  The first list is simply called Reminders (it is the default) I use this list throughout the week.  I also use it to record writing ideas, things that need to be done and things that I want to do.  My second list is called Saturday.  These are items that I want to or need to do on Saturday.

My third list is setup in Google Docs and is called Master Daily Planner.  This list is context specific to work related projects.  It also contains notes that I need to retrieve quickly.  Because it is a Google doc, I don’t have to worry about retrieving the correct notebook to find the information.  I create the list for the next day at the end of each work day.

Using a system allows me to set goals, make plans and measure my progress along the way.  I’ve made a practice to only separate the things that need to be separated.  Otherwise I want to keep as much of my information in one place.  After all life is life.

To learn more about the photographer who share her photos through UnSplash click here: http://www.unmorceau.com/about/

Six women in tech

 

Today I read an article on BusinessInsider.com about Dear Kate, a lingerie company that recently launched an ad campaign featuring “six prominent women in tech”.  The featured collection was inspired by Ada Lovelace who wrote the “first algorithm meant to be carried out by machine.”  Which makes her the first programmer. The controversy surrounding the campaign revolves around the role of women in tech companies.  Some are calling the campaign sexist.  The link to the Business Insider article can be found at the end of this post.

What I find interesting is that someone created an advertising campaign featuring women who look real.  They are not provocatively posed, nor do they sell sex.  Instead they are presented as strong successful women who are comfortable in their on skin.  What I find more interesting is that our culture will applaud a singer, model or celebrity who flaunts their body in an effort to gain attention as being a strong role model.  But these women are being labeled as hurting the tech industry.  Or more to the point women in tech.

Unlike many women who are celebrated for their body, theses women are in fact leading an industry and building a community.  These six women need to be celebrated for leading an industry and presenting themselves as real.

If you would like to learn more about them and the projects they are working on, check out the links below.

Add Birnir: @addabjork, Skillcrush.com

Arikia Millikan: @arikia, @LadyBits on Twitter

Sarah Conley: @stylit and styleitonline.com

Quiessence Philips: @itsquiessence , itsquiessence.com

Patty Delgado: @pattydelgado, Refinery29.com

Checkout the products at Dear Kate.

Business Insider article about Dear Kate.

Relax and have a nice cold glass of water

Matt Damon took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge using toilet water to remind the world of the importance of conserving water.  And while I think it was really gross, I applaud him for making the statement.

When I want a drink of water, I turn on the tap and fill up the Brita pitcher or I open a bottle of straight  from the fridge.  Most times I don’t think twice about it.  But today I am thinking about it.

So if you are considering taking the ice bucket challenge, maybe you will consider donating water instead of dumping it on the ground.

Here are some resources to help.

Water.org

Samartin’s Purse Water projects

Matt Damon’s ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Five little monkeys sitting in a cage

The following story is adapted from a talk given by Eddie Obeng. Watch it here: http://youtu.be/QhBv1kEGUeE

Five little monkeys were put in a cage.  At the top of the cage hung a banana from a rope and a ladder was placed in the cage so the monkeys could get to the banana.

The first monkey decided he wanted the banana and led the others toward the ladder.  As some as they reached the ladder they were sprayed with cold water.  Wet and cold they retreated to the corner.

After a short while the lead monkey decided to make a run at the banana once more.  This time the lead monkey was sprayed with cold water as well as the group sitting in the corner.

Then one of the monkeys was replaced with a new monkey.  This monkey saw the banana and decided to go after.  The group of monkeys beat the new monkey up before he got to the ladder.

Another monkey was replaced.  This time all the monkeys who were sprayed and the one who was not beat up the newest monkey. Another monkey is replaced and another.  Each time the group of monkeys stopped the new monkey before he gets to the ladder.  What started as behavior based on fear is replaced with attitude based on what they have always done.

Sadly most companies put their employees in a cage and spray cold water on them anytime they try to introduce change.  And that is the story of five little monkeys.