Top 5 Ways to Curtail Your Email Addiction
NOTE: If you’re literally addicted to email, please seek professional help. But if you’re simply under-motivated to scale back your usage, try these tips.
5 Turn your "inbox" into a "zenbox." Delete spam. Archive old messages. Unsubscribe from newsletters that you never, ever read. (Tip: Search your inbox for the word "unsubscribe"!) Scrub and cleanse your inbox, and it’ll be less overwhelming when important messages come flying your way.
4 Use Noko’s Timer feature to time your client work, by the second. It's amazing how much easier it is to focus when you can see time slipping away!
3 Straight-up block your favorite distractions for a period of time. For Mac, you can use Focus to block specific sites for up to 2 hours at a time; or use FocalFilter for Windows. to kick yourself off the ‘net.
2 Set specific points throughout the day for email checking (EX: 12 pm and 3 pm). Allot yourself 15 to 30 minutes at each check-point. And then...GET OUTTA THERE! (Tip: Don't open an email, read it, then do the work. Instead, process all your emails, write down what needs to be done, and tackle that after you've left your inbox.
1 If you’re engaged in an intense project, and REALLY need to focus, consider creating an auto-responder that lets people know that you’re limiting your email checking to 3 times a day, and that you’ll respond within 72 hours, or as soon as reasonably possible. Here's how to set one up in Gmail.
At Noko Time Tracking, we believe that everyone wins when freelancers like you charge what they're really worth. So for Freelancember, we've lined up lots of great gifts to help you do it! Keep checking back.Feeling guilty for not tracking your time? Noko can help!