Business Advice Daily

Reprint and Repost Policy

by Dottie DeHart

Sometimes you despise that relentless harbinger of the Information Age: Email. You’re drowning in it. Every time you see the escalating inbox tally, or scroll past a task you’d half-forgotten, or hear the cheery brriiinnng of yet another interruptive message arrival, you cringe. Fortunately, workplace efficiency expert Michael Linenberger has a solution: “Make a one-time investment of eight hours of your time in learning a new way to manage your email and the plethora of tasks that come with it and you’ll gain a whopping 25% increase in your productivity.”

It sounds incredible, but Linenberger—author of “Total Workday Control Using Microsoft® Outlook: The Eight Best Practices of Task and E-Mail Management”—swears that’s what his clients report. Furthermore, he says, taking control of your email is nothing less than taking control of your life.

“Think about it,” he says. “If you can add what amounts to two more hours of productivity to your workday, you can go home at 5:30, say, instead of at 7:30. I don’t have to tell you how that simple change can transform your life. It has implications for your career advancement, your relationships, your social life, even your level of happiness.”

Here are a few tips Linenberger offers to gain control of your inbox:

Resolve to quit storing emails in your inbox. Most of us leave important emails in our email inbox with the intention of returning to them later to act upon them. Even worse, email is just one place you’re likely storing your tasks. Others include voice mailboxes, notebooks, random sticky notes, and—worst of all—in your head. “You must track all tasks in Outlook’s Task system,” says Linenberger. (See www.outlook-task.com to add the task system.) “It’s the key to everything. The relief of having one prioritized place to look for to-dos is amazing.”

Immediately convert emails to tasks—as soon as you read them. It’s simple. Just click on the email and drag it to the task icon. You’ll have to give it a name and the naming process alone helps you think in terms of taking action. “Let’s say you get an email from a supervisor with the heading, ‘Can you believe this weather?’” says Linenberger. “And maybe buried inside the email, after her comments on the blizzard you’re experiencing, is the task you need to do. You will put the actual to-do—‘Fill out new insurance form,’ maybe—right in the appropriate task list. Once you start doing this, you’ll cease needing to constantly re-read emails, which saves a huge amount of time.”

Make two task lists: one daily, one long-term. Not surprisingly, your long-term list will be much longer than your daily list. The “two-list” system allows you to: 1. Keep the most important tasks right in front of you; 2. Keep lower priority tasks out of sight so you don’t feel overwhelmed; and 3. Separate long-term tasks from short-term tasks. “Having everything in one list is like having a three-foot tall stack of papers on your desk,” reflects Linenberger. “Yes, it’s all there in one place, but it’s too paralyzing to deal with.”

Break down tasks into bite-sized mini-projects and next steps. “Maybe two of the items on your long-term list are ‘Write Quarterly Report’ and ‘Landscape Yard,’” says Linenberger. “Both of these are big tasks that you can’t do in one day, especially given all your other obligations. You must break them into small mini-projects and then figure out which step should go next on your list. So you might add to your daily list, ‘Call Susan and request last year’s report’ and ‘Call Jim and ask who landscaped his yard.’ The simple act of making a big task manageable dramatically increases the likelihood that you’ll do it. It staves off procrastination.” Linenberger says all tasks entered in Outlook’s Task Pad should follow this rule.

First thing every morning, prioritize with the “going home” test. Prioritizing is definitely a tricky proposition. Who hasn’t been given three big tasks to do with the supremely unhelpful directive, “They’re all top priority”? Linenberger suggests that you start your day by asking yourself, out loud, the question, “What two or three items on this list, if they’re not done, will keep me from going home today?” Then set a goal to get them done early in the day. “The earlier you get these high-priority items out of the way, the better,” he says. “It is a huge relief to know that after your self-imposed deadline the rest of the day is yours. You can then give 100% of your focus to strategically important things instead of feeling nagged by those items that keep you at work late. And best of all, at 5 p.m., you can actually go home—no guilt, no tight stomach, no plea-filled calls to your spouse. It’s a great feeling, and it can change your whole attitude about work.”

Sort your tasks with oldest tasks in the lowest position in your list. Interestingly, most systems recommend that your oldest, incomplete tasks should get the most attention. They may suggest that you put the oldest items at the top of your list, marked in red as “overdue.” Linenberger strongly disagrees. “You should put your newest tasks at the top of your list,” he asserts. “Why? Because they hold the most energy. They are most relevant. And doing so will keep your task list fresh and useable. Old tasks are dead tasks, and your task list will become a dead list if you focus on those first. Later, if an old task takes on new life, you can re-set the date to today and move it to the top of your date-sorted list. In other words, make old tasks earn their place at the top of your list.

“Yes, Microsoft Outlook is just a tool, but so was the wheel,” he adds. “I’m sure there were cave people who didn’t want to learn to use the wheel. Don’t be the 21st century equivalent of the caveman dragging the saber tooth tiger home by brute strength when you can roll it on a wagon and get there in a fraction of the time.”

Bookmark to: