Workplace Productivity: Great Post on Getting More Done by Amber Riviere
Here’s a great post by Amber Riviere on how to get more done…
http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/12/10/get-more-done-how-to-move-the-big-rocks/
Another great BASEX Editorial – Email NOT Going Away
RePrinting: BASEX:COMMENTARY-OF-THE-WEEK BY JONATHAN B. SPIRA
E-MAIL: REPORTS OF MY DEMISE ARE PREMATURE
It is both premature and foolhardy to proclaim that e-mail’s reign as “king of communications” is over as a recent Wall Street Journal article trumpets.
Not that e-mail is the best communications medium for everything; indeed we know very well it isn’t.
Instead, e-mail has, in the past 15 years in particular, become that path of least resistance for almost everything that transpires within an organization.
Update status? Send an e-mail to a few hundred of one’s closest colleagues.
Finish a report? Send another e-mail to a few hundred of one’s closest colleagues.
The fact is that we use e-mail opportunistically rather than with an understanding as to what the impact of its use might be.
Sending that status report to those few hundred colleagues actually cost the organization ca. 24 hours in lost time when one calculates the few minutes each person spent opening the e-mail he didn’t need to receive in the first place – plus the “recovery time,” which is the time it takes to get back to where one was in the task that was interrupted.
The result of all of our communications (and it isn’t just e-mail) is Information Overload, a problem that costs the U.S. economy ca. $900 billion per annum. On August 12, Information Overload Awareness Day was observed around the world with meetings and discussions (see http://www.basexblog.com/2009/07/09/information-overload-awareness-day/).
But that’s just one day – each additional day that we don’t address the problem of Information Overload and take steps to lessen its impact costs billions.
Companies can take steps to lower their exposure to Information Overload (an article about what can be done may be found at
http://www.basexblog.com/2009/04/23/lowering-your-information-overload-exposure/)
but even raising awareness of the problem and understanding the impact of overusing such tools as e-mail can make a big difference.
This Analyst Opinion is also available online at http://www.basexblog.com/2009/10/15/e-mail-reports-of-my-demise-are-premature/
Jonathan B. Spira is CEO and Chief Analyst at Basex. He can be reached at jspira@basex.com
The Magic of Self Discipline – Great Article by Brian Tracy
Hey folks–the best way for you to manage your email is to practice self discipline. Here is a great article published in Entrepreneur & Self-Employed Business Journal by Brian Tracy that you should read:
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There is one special quality that you can develop that will guarantee you greater success, accomplishment and happiness in life.
Of a thousand principles for success developed over the ages, this one quality or practice will do more to assure that you accomplish wonderful things with your life than anything else. This quality is so important that, if you don’t develop it to a high degree, it is impossible for you to ever achieve what you are truly capable of achieving.
The quality that I am talking about is the quality of self-discipline. It is a habit, a practice, a philosophy and a way of living. All successful men and women are highly disciplined in the important work that they do. All unsuccessful men and women are undisciplined and unable to control their behaviors and their appetites. And when you develop the same levels of high, personal discipline possessed by the most successful people in our society, you will very soon begin to achieve the same results that they do.
All great success in life is preceded by long, sustained periods of focused effort on a single goal, the most important goal, with the determination to stay with it until it is complete. Throughout history, we find that every man or woman who achieved anything lasting and worthwhile, had engaged in long, often unappreciated hours, weeks, months and even years of concentrated, disciplined work, in a particular direction.
Fortunately the quality of self-discipline is something that you can learn by continuous practice, over and over, until you master it. Once you have mastered the ability to delay gratification, the ability to discipline yourself to keep your attention focused on the most important task in front of you, there is virtually no goal that you cannot accomplish and no task that you cannot complete.
Successful people engage in activities that are goal-achieving. Unsuccessful people engage in activities that are tension-reliving. Successful people discipline themselves to have dinner before dessert. Unsuccessful people prefer to have dessert most of the time.
Successful people plan their work, and work their plan. They take the time to think through their responsibilities before they begin. They make clear decisions which they then implement immediately. They get a lot more done in a shorter period of time than the average person. And it all has to do with their disciplines.
Perhaps the most important benefit of self-discipline is the personal benefit that you receive. Every act of self-discipline increases your self-esteem. It gives you a feeling of personal power and accomplishment. Each time you discipline yourself to persist in the face of distractions, diversions, and disappointments, you feel better about yourself. As you continue to discipline yourself, you achieve more and more in life. As you achieve more things, you feel more like a winner. Your self-confidence goes up. You feel happier about yourself. You get more done and you have more energy. You earn the respect and esteem of the people around you. You get more rapid promotions and are paid more money. You live in a nicer house, drive a nicer car, and wear nicer clothes. You get a natural high from the thrill of achievement. And the more things that you achieve as the result of employing your personal habits of effectiveness and productivity, the more eager you are to achieve even higher and better tasks. Your life gets onto an upward spiral of success and happiness. You feel great about yourself most of the time.
Every act of self-discipline strengthens every other discipline in your life. Every weakness of self-discipline weakens your other disciplines as well. When you make a habit of disciplining yourself in little things, like flossing your teeth every night, you’ll soon become able to discipline yourself to accomplish even larger things, like working long, long hours to bring a major task to completion.
Your entire life is an on-going battle between the forces of doing what is right and necessary on the one hand and doing what is fun and easy on the other hand. It is a battle between the forces of discipline and the forces of ease or expediency. And when you develop the strength of character that gives you complete self-mastery, self-control and self-discipline, you feel wonderful about yourself. You develop a deep inner sense of strength and confidence. You replace positive thinking with positive knowing. You reach the point inside where you absolutely know that you can do whatever it takes to achieve any goal that you can set for yourself.
Self-discipline is its own reward. Not only does it pay off in terms of greater self-esteem and a more positive mental attitude, but it pays off throughout your life in terms of the goals that you achieve and the success that you attain in everything you do.
Self-discipline is a skill and a habit that can be learned by practice. Every time you practice a little self-discipline, you become stronger and stronger. Bit by bit, you become more capable of even greater disciplines. As you become a totally self-disciplined individual, your entire future opens up in front of you like a broad highway. Everything becomes possible for you and your future becomes unlimited.
Accomplish More in a Month Than Most People Accomplish in a Year. Take complete control of your time and your life. Get more done now.
Author Credit: Brian Tracy
Email on Airlines? Yup
Some people have actually enjoyed the information overload break created by traveling in an airplane.
The skies are not safe anymore! At least from information overload.
I was checking the wiki on AIRCELL, and found that at least eight airlines are installing or plan to install the ability for broadband connections while in the air. See the full WIKI for complete information.
Here are some of them:
On August 1, 2007, American Airlines partnered with Aircell to offer broadband on American’s flights. On September 13, 2007, Virgin America partnered with Aircell to add broadband capabilities to their flights.
On January 22, 2008, American Airlines completed the first aircraft installation of the Aircell Internet broadband connection at American’s Kansas City maintenance base. The airline plans to install and test the broadband technology in 2008 on all 15 of its Boeing 767-200 aircraft. The technology will provide customers an Internet connection, virtual private network (VPN) access and email capabilities.
On February 29, 2008, Aircell unveiled the product name as Gogo Inflight Internet.
On August 5, 2008, Delta Airlines announced it was installing Aircell’s Gogo Inflight system on all of its airplanes over the subsequent year.
On August 20, 2008, Aircell’s Gogo going went live on American Airlines. Aircell’s Gogo will be available to customers as a fee-based service in all cabins. Aircell will charge $12.95 on flights more than three hours, which include American’s Boeing 767-200 flights. Each paid Gogo session includes full Internet access.
On May 12, 2009, AirTran Airways announced it will install Aircell’s Gogo Inflight System on all of its airplanes by late July 2009.
And just a few days ago, July 23, US Aiways announced that it will install internet capabilities available to passengers on Airbus A321 aircraft starting in 2010 when flying over the U.S. mainland.
So much for that info overload break that some of us actually enjoy!
Email efficiency alert: Immediate email responses CAN’T be the norm!
There was a very interesting article in the NY Times yesterday – on the front page of their business section.
I’m afraid I take issue with professor David E. Meyer’s comment, “The social norm is that you should respond within a couple of hours, if not immediately,” in your article “Smartphone Rises Fast From Gadget to Necessity“
One of the biggest challenges people face when it comes to information overload is the ability to manage work. Those who believe they must respond to email immediately become unable to complete other work. Fifty percent of American workers have their inboxes open constantly, inviting interruptions that cost them several hours every day.
I’d hardly consider expecting immediate responses a social norm. If it is, we are in BIG deep trouble that will only get deeper.
The fact is, most people who send an email generally expect a reply within 24 to 48 hours. If we buy the thought that immediate response is the social norm, work won’t get done. Stop this belief that it IS the norm. It can’t be. If it’s so urgent, pick up the phone!
I do agree that Meyer’s comment that balance is key is spot on. We should control technology – it shouldn’t control us. Off soapbox now.
Thank you,
Marsha Egan, author, Inbox Detox and the Habit of Email Excellence
Email Overload at Duke – A Video
Ok ok ok. So I AM a Dukie…
That doesn’t mean that this video doesn’t do a good job of articulating the challenges (or exasperation) that email overload brings us.
Here’s the video.
Here’s the related story.
(Go Blue Devils!)
Video: Execs on IO (Information Overload)
Well, my friends at Basex got out their video cameras and interviewed some high level executives on the subject of information overload. They feel our pain, we feel their pain — we need a world solution. Sooner rather than later. Here is the 3 1/2 minute video.
Caution as Email Use Doubles in Coming Years
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Email Productivity Expert Urges Caution as Email Use Doubles in Coming Years
The latest projections for email use has me concerned about the impact of information overload. These projections, released May 6 by The Radicati Group, Inc., indicate that the number of worldwide email users will increase from 1.4 billion to 1.9 billion in the next four years. The study also shows that the number of email messages sent per day will more than double by 2013 – going from the current 247 billion to 507 billion per day.
Given that the number of email users is increasing by 25 percent but actual messages are going to double, Egan is concerned about what this means for people already suffering from information overload.
Now is the time to be responsible. People need to consider each message, and ask themselves if email is really the best venue for that message. It’s so easy to default to email as everyone’s preferred medium, and then you’re just contributing to the overwhelm.
Every email interruption pulls people away from their current tasks. After every single interruption, it takes an average of 4 minutes to get back on track. That means it takes only 15 emails for you to lose an hour of productive, billable time. Think about the number of emails you actually get in a day – now imagine that doubling in the next four years. Egan asks how much time you’ll really be losing to email, and how easy it is to get overwhelmed.
The solution is to take a responsible approach to email management by getting your own email practices under control NOW. In order to keep email from becoming overwhelming, a cultural shift will have to happen around the way we all approach email.
Although there are a number of tools out there designed to help people manage their inboxes, I believe that the best solution is for the user to adopt effective email management habits now, to better handle the future’s onslaught – and we have the tools to get the job done. Are you familiar with our12-step program to help combat email e-ddiction, with tips designed to help individuals take control of their inboxes?
With the increasing dependence on email, it’s really easy to get caught up in the information overload. We all need to stop now and take control of our inboxes in order to ensure that we don’t let our inboxes take over our lives.
To read more about The Radicati Group’s research, click here.
Meet by E-Mail? Let’s blog instead!
Have you ever received an Email Message like this?
Hi everyone!
I’d like to try what I’ll call a “virtual meeting”- I’d like to throw out a question and get everyone to do a “reply all” response to see if we can’t get some good ideas flowing. I know schedules are busy, and many of you haven’t been able to make recent meetings. Yet we want your ideas! So let’s give it a try with a question that’s been on the agenda, but has yet to be discussed: (blah blah blah)
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Did you cringe? Throw your hands up in exasperation? Another well meaning (idiot) trying to hold an email meeting. Yeeesshhh.
Many have tried to hold email “discussions.” Few have worked, and this is why… When people start to “reply all” with their comments, you start to have different threads or chains of responses. There is no one central place that people can see all of them in one shot. Additionally, if the meeting needs discussion, rather than the passing of one sided info, you miss all the benefit of voice inflection and body language, which is pretty important in motivation/building consensus, etc.
Perhaps you’ve met “Chatroom Chuck.” See our 3/24 blogpost . Chatroom C is featured in our book, Inbox Detox, along with 20 other irritating emailers.
If you can’t meet in person, the next best thing is teleconferencing/webconferencing. If you can’t/don’t wanna do that, then the next option is to set up a chat room with a service like Yahoo. Even though all the info is in one place, you may still have to sift thru separate email discussions or subjects, but at least it is all in one place.
Here’s another thought… You can set up a free wordpress or blogger blog, and have everyone sign up to receive notifications of a post. This way you have all the thoughts together, and chronologically. Food for thought. There may be other great ways to virtually collborate, we’d love to hear yours.
Bottom line – Email is the last resort, for the reasons mentioned above.
Urgent Emails are TOXIC!
The minute you send an urgent email to a co-worker or subordinate, you’ve just infected them.
Email is a great tool. It is efficient, effective, and inexpensive! It was never created to be an urgent communication device.
People learn practices from others. You send an urgent email, they “learn” they should too.
Why is this such a problem? Because once a worker “learns” that the boss MIGHT send him or her an urgent email, he or she can no longer close down the inbox while working on something else. You have just “invited” email arrival interruptions to invade your day, and destroy any concentration you could hope to have. With the average emailer receiving between 80 and 150 emails daily, we’re talking alot of interruptions!
The antidote? Get everyone in your work group to agree to this rule:
If it is needed in less than 3 hours, pick up the phone.
Click here for three 8.5 x 11 posters…
Hey folks. This REALLY works. Try it, and let me know how it worked. And how much time you and your department, office or company reclaimed!
