A Little Inspiration to Tame the Savage Email Beast

Email Fatigue Is Real, But You Can Stop the Pain!

Counting the Cost

 

Have you missed important emails like I have?  

Freelance businesses or anyone working from home already has to battle the temptation to “stay at work” just a little longer.

But email strikes everyone.  And it has a special little curse.   We can check it anytime, often without disturbing anyone else.   In the car, standing in line, laying bed, even in the bathroom for crying out loud!  We sneak a peek everywhere because ... we don’t want to miss something important.

It happens anyway.

The worst part: we signed up for it!

• Professional growth blogs to help us up our game
• Free e-courses to optimize our game
• Quick, easy, healthy recipes to save our dinner-making sanity
• Inspirational quotes to keep us going when we want to give up
• Individual lists for market study to stay on top of our game
• Travel offers for business trips and that escape to a small island nation with no internet
• E-bills/E-banking to help us stay on top of our finances.

The list of possibilities are endless.   All good things.  

That doesn’t even include your other email which is just for fun, spiritual growth, hobbies, bills, notes from friends and family …

It’s easy to get 50 or 100+ emails a day that aren’t directly related to work.  Worse, it’s easy to get sucked in by great-looking free offers enticing us to sign up for more.

It’s time to get that monster vanquished and I’m determined.  Want to join me in reclaiming your inbox sanity?  Read on!

Unsubscribe, Unsubscribe, Unsubscribe

Streamline for better time management.  Less inbox distractions means less things to intend to get done. Merely deleting (or worse, ignoring) the stuff you aren’t reading is only creating pain for you tomorrow, or the next time they send you something. 

If you aren’t going to read it, you aren’t getting any benefit from having emails sent to you, right?  Let go of guilt and shame about what you “should” read.  Be realistic about your time, those things that move your business forward, and cut the cord! 

If it helps you feel any better, create a bookmark to their website, in case you find some spare time and want to re-subscribe.  (Decluttering bookmarks will be another project for another time!)

Subscribe Wisely

I have developed a new policy.  When I subscribe to something, I will give it 2-4 weeks max to evaluate.  I will access the return on time investment. 

Inbox offenders who send multiple emails a day don’t take me as long to remove, unless I want it for market study.  If they are sending a great email once a week, it may take a month for me to decide if it’s something I want to read regularly.   

If the majority are saved to “get back to later” it’s a candidate for elimination.  If I’m really unsure, I’ll give it another week or two.

It always comes back to priorities.  There isn’t enough time to read all of the great stuff out there.  No shame in realizing it’s time to let go.  (I'm trying to build up my courage to do this - can you tell?)

Make Use of Technology Helpers

If you Google inbox helpers, you’ll find a slew of options like Unroll.me, Boxer, ProtonMail … etc available to help you manage your email.  Quite a few people swear by them. 

For me, it’s just one more technology thingie to figure out.  It’s more potential to get a setting wrong … and wasting time tracking down which setting is creating the problem.  That annoys me enough to avoid it until someone proves fantastic value to overcome potentially wasted time.

I prefer to make use of filters to sort some of my email ahead of time.  You can also just make folders and manually move each email as it comes in so that you see it as it comes.  

Inbox Zero does that.  I tried to open the site today, but couldn’t.  Lots of other articles are available if you are interested in that system. 

I have set up an entirely different email for my market studies so that I’m not sidetracked until I’m ready to engage with them.   I don’t want to see folders with 163 emails in them.  Too much pressure.  We’ll see how I like doing it this way.

Develop Folders To Suit Your Style

I made one for actionables … one for emails I must deal with and empty often.  Putting it there meant out of sight for an uncluttered inbox, but readily accessible for action time.  It's a favorite for bills or reminders to renew my car registration.

Another folder is for billing reference.  I have this silly thing about holding my payment receipt until the next billing cycle.  Makes me feel invincible in case someone says they didn’t receive my payment.

When I have a project I’m working on, I put “1” before the name so the folder sits on top.  It’s more convenient for me to engage with it several times a day.  Others might find that obnoxious … your mileage may vary.

The Great Purge

I have folders from when I tried to create a system before.  Full of good things.  Several hundred good things.  In 54 folders.  I’m slowly coming to accept that I must let go.  If I haven’t read them by now, what makes me think I’m likely to do so in the future?  It’s time to purge these, too.   

To borrow a Flylady-ism, organized clutter is still clutter.  Yet, some of that is archived stuff  I refer to and I appreciate the organization.

You know by now I wrote this to myself to bolster my courage to tackle this beast of 1000's of emails.  Good stuff mixed with stuff I'll never miss.  But I will do this.  Do you need to join me?  Post below and we'll hold each other accountable!

Once I have done all of the unsubscribing I need to do, and I shift things to their new folders, I won’t miss any more email – unless of course my email provider is slow to get it to me. 

A big part of my motivation is some email trouble.  Some of yesterday’s email quietly sneaks into my inbox 24-36 hours later and sits down with yesterday’s emails as if it arrived yesterday, too.  I already looked at yesterday’s email, so I only look at the most recent arrivals.  If my inbox is empty, I won’t miss them anymore.  Take that, slow email provider!

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Weekly Challenge

Last week has been about bits and pieces.  Preparation details.  My logo is still in process due to delays on my end, then on his end.  This morning I received word that the revisions should be received today.  It’s after 6 and I haven’t seen anything yet.  May just be a slow email thing and I’ll have a notification in the morning.  Fingers crossed!

I’m still working on assigned reading.  Apparently this week is the foundations week, an introduction to the system.  The 12 weeks starts next week.

Depending on how much spare time I have, I want to see my main inbox reduced by 1000 emails.  I will make myself subscribe from 10 lists.  That’s going to hurt, because I like them … but I’m not reading them.  I will also change emails for the marketing study lists that are still in my regular mail.

Framing a Mission Statement for Success

How to Build Flexibility into Your Business

I need to create a business statement.  It’s time to delve into it, learn how to do it and why it matters.

We go into business because we are all about freedom.  We have an idea or a skill. We want to do it the way we envision it, not limited by a boss.

Last week I talked about a personal mission statement.  Knowing what is most important to you gives you a strong framework to evaluate your priorities.

How you create your business statement is trickier than writing a personal statement.  A business statement needs to cover so much more, with a minimum of words.  However, not done properly, it could sink your freelance business in the end. 

Relevance Matters

Do you use a typewriter?  I learned to type on one in high school, two years before learning WordStar (bonus points if you knew what that was without looking it up.)  

IBM made typewriters.  They innovated and created the future.  Many typewriter manufacturers re-invented themselves.  Royal transitioned into cash registers and other office equipment.  Brother printers.  Sharp Electronics. 

Know a taxi driver?  Uber put a hurting on them virtually overnight. 

Kodak was in the film business.  If they thought of themselves in the picture preserving business, they would have adopted digital camera much sooner.  Remaining true to their core business too long, they went from the top to largely irrelevant.

If you narrow your focus too much, you risk failing innovation and losing sight of emerging trends.  As taxi companies learned, you could become irrelevant almost overnight.

Entrepreneur and author Tai Lopez, likes to warn people against falling in love with their current product.  Yes, it’s what they are known for, and it’s excellent.  But people are fickle.  Excellence means nothing when you lose relevance.

Flexibility to Innovate

Tony Robbins, entrepreneur, author, speaker, tells his conference attendees to keep an eye on the future.  Your business may look completely different ten or twenty years from now.  Don’t be afraid to try new things once you are stable and excellent with your products.

Think about it.  Twenty years ago, the internet was just gaining traction.  Many businesses didn’t have websites yet.  Now, most businesses do.  However, they also need a social media presence to stay engaged with their customers.

What is next?  Will you be there?  That flexibility needs to be a part of your business plan … and reflected in your business statement.

What to Write

So how does one write a powerful business statement that both define who you are today while remaining flexible to changes in the marketplace? 

Consider These Things

1. Who are you?  What do you value?  What particular talents, insights, and experience do you bring to the table?  Your personal statement is an asset.  If these don’t match, you add stress to the challenge.  Put all that together and create a unique selling point letting your client know why you are the best fit for them. 
2. Why are you in business?  Who is your customer?
3. What specific products do you offer now?
4. What is your vision?  Your clients need to know if you will be able to grow with them.

Express the heart of your company that will remain unchanged through various trends. Commit to ongoing relevance, coming back to change the specific services as appropriate. You will have a much better chance of creating and maintaining that raving fan base that fuels your success.

Weekly Business Challenge

Last week I said that I would complete my personal and business mission statements.  These are what I have come up with so far.  I will probably adjust them at some point.

Personal Mission Statement:

I seek to be the best version of myself as God created me to be.  Sharing lessons I have learned, I will seek to teach and encourage other through communication, prayer, and demonstrated faith as received through Christ Jesus.

Business Mission Statement:

At Copy By Design, we understand the right product, at the right time, has a profound effect on a person.  Using powerful copy, we give you the best chance to be that catalyst for your prospect.  Our words help you maintain ongoing connection for their continued growth and encouragement through relevant forms of media.

Last week, I also said that I would defrag my computer.  Turns out it's set to do that on a weekly basis.  Too bad.  I was hoping performance would improve.  Oh well.

I have worked on adding more people to my LinkedIn network, but I can’t say I spent enough time to get comfortable with it.  I’ll have to table that for now.

This week had a number of curve balls.  Some are potentially preventable, some are opportunities, and some are just life happening, though in a good way.

My challenge for this week will be to get an old project touched up and finally out.  Then I’ll need to make a plan for review and getting my certification.

What You Need To Know To Balance This Schedule Thing Effectively

Prioritizing Time For Less Stress

You feel tension rising as you realize your schedule is blown yet again.  There's an emergency load of laundry to run and everyone is running late.  You’re frustrated, your husband is frustrated, and you wonder how it will ever work.

How DO successful business women manage to do it all?  The dirty secret is: they DON’T!  

Growing into a schedule that works for you and your unique situation is messy.  So is building a business and keeping up with the most important relationship you have.  The man you chose to marry deserves even more careful consideration than you give your business.

I think something I learned this past week will reduce some of that messiness.

I’m assuming you already have your husband’s buy-in on your new adventure.   Your stress level will be different.  You may be distracted with various tasks of starting a business.  Details effortlessly covered slip off your radar – but not his.

A neglected marriage in favor of your business may develop an emptier nest than planned.  Your husband might not admit he feels neglected, until it's too late.  If you do your best to understand and take his needs into account when planning your day, you may save your marriage – and your business, too.

After reading Sacred Influence by Gary Thomas, I asked my husband what one thing he would have me change.  It wasn’t about cleaning.  It was about my excessive use of social media.  I’m working to re-prioritize to spend less time there and avoid it past a certain time of day.

Over and over, I hear the message that we all have the same 24 hours in a day.  I want to throw my hands up in the air.   I get that I can’t do it all, yet it’s still waiting to get done.  I always feel ... behind. That wears on me.  I bet it wears on you, too. 

 

That's why I got excited listening to Brendan Burchard talk about dealing with priorities.  If you have trouble figuring out AND balancing your priorities, there's hope. 

Up until now, my priorities have to do with urgent tasks/chores and things that make me feel self-respectable.  So grocery shopping has a higher priority than mopping the floor.  However, ignoring a dirty floor drives me nuts.  It doesn’t feel self-respectable at all, and I’d be embarrassed if anyone came over.

I don’t have the funds to pay someone else to do that – yet.  I’m not willing to demand that my husband give up on his priorities and nag him about something he doesn’t care much about, either.  So what do I do in the meantime?  Get my priorities straight.

Brendon Burchard has four things to say about prioritizing.

      1.   Get rid of the unimportant.  

*Does this thing or activity have a benefit?   If it brings me joy, it serves an outcome.  If it is useful and I use it, it has value. 

*If not, it requires maintenance, tying up space or time.

2.  Know the value.

*When evaluating the cost - money or time, is there a short-term or long-term benefit? 

*Is it a big enough value to be worth the cost/effort now? 

*Can the same benefit be achieved without buying or doing this?

3.  Evaluate and Prioritize.  Score each activity plus those under consideration.  How does it score in:

*character/values/personal growth 

*relationships

*health 

*spirituality 

*wealth (making or giving money)

4.   Schedule accordingly.

We understand that we can’t do every good thing.  We can’t read every good book, make every appealing recipe, or pass the white glove test at all times. 

 

When you know the score of your activities, rank each item based on how they fit with the first two qualifiers.  Some things aren’t worth doing when stacked up against others.  

Know what you value.   Knowing where something ranks makes it much easier to say no to good things. You are crystal clear on what you have time to accomplish.  You know that over-filling your schedule won’t produce the results you are looking for.

Your valuable time and energy is available for what you value most.  Your life will be more enjoyable without the unnecessary stress of misplaced priorities.  Your husband will enjoy his unfrazzled wife, too.

What things do you need to let go to make room for your highest value activities?  What one thing would your husband ask you to change?

It Causes A Lot Of Frustration When You Don't Think To Do This

      When Technology Costs You Time

      You Weren’t Prepared to Spend

 

It’s the ultimate insult from my app, thumbing its pixel-y techno-nose in my face.  I can almost hear it - virtually laughing over my desperate glances at the clock.

I’m surely not the only one who has experienced the frustration of facing a time crunch, only to find there was an overnight update.  That you were forewarned means nothing, because chances are it wasn’t on your mind when you started up your computer. 

Without advanced instruction, you are left to fight your way through a new route to work. What was once done with effortlessness now requires guessing and searching  – just to do a task done automatically a hundred times before.  Sometimes, you are left with the feeling that this was distinctly NOT an improvement.

You see, I tend to think I don’t have time for learning my apps well.  I usually learn just enough to get by.  This can lead to easy overwhelm, trying to figure out how to access a feature.   It’s worse with a major update.

Scheduling Tech Learning Time

Spending that time feels like a poor use of time when I have other seemingly more important things to do.  I’m realizing that to schedule this learning, just as I plan for other ongoing education, would be of great value.

It’s surprising to consider how many apps we interact with on a daily basis.  Consider how many we might be using, just to run our business.  These certainly don’t cover them all:

·        *  Main operating system

·        *  System protection software (anti-virus, mal-ware, etc)

·        *  Email

·        *  Quickbooks

·        *  MS Office

·        *  Website management apps

·        *  Cloud storage apps

·        *  Calendar

·        *  Adobe

Then we have more apps for social media:

·        *  Facebook

·        *  Twitter

·        * Instagram

·       *  LinkedIn

·       *  Pinterest

·       *  SnapChat

·       * YouTube

·       *  Tumblr

·       *   Meetup

·       *  Periscope

Each has a unique interface.  Some aren’t as intuitive as one might wish.

I Can Do This

I found myself often uttering some variation of, “I don’t know how to do that” or “I haven’t figured out how to do that yet.”  One day, when I said that for the third time, it annoyed me.  I’m not helpless!  I can do something about this! 

To be fair, it was over a new cell phone, an upgrade that was three years overdue.   I felt like a brand new smart phone user - it handled that differently.  Yet I wonder what I’m missing because I just get by. 

I think part of what holds me back is I dislike toggling back and forth between screens.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love that I no longer need a bookcase to shelve ridiculously thick program manuals.  However, it was really nice to see the directions while I’m applying them.  It felt easier - faster somehow.

I haven’t addressed things with the gusto I intended, but I need to.  It would probably lower my stress level because it will be easier to accomplish a task (until they throw a massive update in my face anyway.)  

Invest In Whatever It Takes

I need to plan for it.  I need to make the time - or it will never happen.  In some cases, I may need to invest in tutorials or whatever it takes to get up to speed so my limited understanding isn’t holding me back.

What is your biggest challenge with technology?  Do you regularly schedule time for learning?