Email Mastery: Webinar #3 - Constant E-mail Interruptions & Multi-Tasking slideshow

Webinar #3:
Constant E-mail
Interruptions &
Multi-tasking – is
there a better way?
Steuart Snooks
E-mail Strategist &
Productivity Expert
www.emailtiger.com.au

Webinar overview
Solutions for Success 2013 www.emailtiger.com.au
Do you seem to work in a constant state of multi-tasking,
trying to balance high priority work with a constant flow of
new inputs in what is often a noisy, cluttered & harried work-
place environment. Do you often think there must be a better way?
This webinar covers;
• the severe cumulative impact of e-mail ‘as-an-interruption’
• how to control e-mail interruptions
• how to manage others’ expectations of how quickly you’ll respond
• the best times of day for monitoring and processing e-mail
This webinar will help you shift your hour-by-hour focus from being
email-based, interruption-driven and reactive towards one which is
calendar-based, plan-driven and proactive.

Impact of email interruptions
Average amount of time
between interruptions?
Average amount of time
working on a task or project
before switching to another?
Percentage of occasions a
project/task is not resumed for
that day?
3 mins
11 mins
40 %

Impact of email interruptions

Multi-tasking
As a result of constant
interruptions, do you find
that you start to multi-task?
Do you often have 2 or 3
files open on your desk?
Does your computer often
have 4 or 5 windows (or
more) open at once?

Multi-tasking
Author Maggie Jackson warns that . . .
"Relying on multitasking
as a way of life, we chop up
our opportunities and abilities to
make big-picture sense of the world
and pursue our long-term goals“
"Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age."

Multi-tasking

Impact of interruptions on your IQ
In a series of tests carried out by Dr Glenn Wilson,
Reader in Personality at the Institute of
Psychiatry, University of London, an average
worker’s functioning IQ falls dramatically when
working in an environment where they are
constantly distracted by ringing telephones and
incoming emails.

Impact of interruptions on IQ = 10 points
Impact of smoking marijuana = 4 points
Average IQ level
is 100
Impact of interruptions on your IQ

The Urgency Dilemma
The problem is that
Urgent
Not-so-urgent
Non-urgent
messages all come through the same channel!
So, we need to clarify what is truly ‘urgent’
URGENT
NOT SO
URGENT
NOT
URGENT

Best times to check email?
Research shows that for most people, in most office-based roles,
checking e-mail at 4 planned times a day (to a max of 45 mins each
time) allows you to turn handle all e-mail in a 24 hour period.
Early in the day, as ‘second thing’ (after
checking your calendar!1
2
3
4
About 30-45 minutes before your lunch
break (NOT mid-morning)
Any time that suits you during the afternoon
About 30-45 minutes before you finish
for the day

Strategies to control email
‘as-an-interruption’
Adjust
send/
receive
interval
Work
offline
Turn
off all
alerts

Strategies to control email
‘as-an-interruption’

How promptly do you expect to
respond to email that you . . .
Send Receive
Immediately 2.3%
23.23%
7.5%
34.5%
Within 2 to 4 hours 20.9% 27.0%
Same day 39.6%
65.9%
38.0%
57.6%
Next day (ie: within 24 hrs) 26.3% 19.5%
Within 2 days 7.8%
10.9%
6.2%
7.9%
Within 3 days 3.1% 1.7%

TimeValue
Quality
The Customer Service Interaction
QuickCheap
Good

My New Personal E-mail Policy
In an effort to increase my personal productivity and efficiency I am implementing a new
approach to managing my email. I have recently come to understand that I spend too
much time shuffling through a stack of emails in my inbox and not enough time focusing
on my real work, that is, the stuff I'm actually paid to do! Email has become an
unnecessary distraction that is creating longer lead times on my ever-growing 'to-do' list.
Consequently, I have decided that serious change is required. Therefore, I will now only be
checking and responding to my email at approx. noon and 4pm on weekdays. I shall try to
get back to you via email in a timely manner and will most certainly be handling my email
in a way that is seen as professional and responsive. Therefore, if you need a response
from me outside of these times, please do call me on my mobile number. It'd be good to
hear your voice anyway - much more personal than electronic mail!
I trust my new approach to email helps you get the most out of me. For my part, I believe
it will allow me to spend more time on productive work output and creating value for my
organisation. Thanks greatly; I'm looking forward to putting email back where it belongs;
supporting my work, not driving it!
Managing Expectations

Managing Expectations

Actions from today?
Review the webinar
recording and
slideshow
Turn off all email
alerts (how-to steps
shown in upcoming
email tips)
Single-task
e-mail, don’t
multi-task it
Manage expectations
(ie: use a PS in your
signature block)

How to Write
Effective Email
Communications
Help! Where Should I Keep
All This Email (and find it
again quickly later)?
Constant E-mail
Interruptions &
multi-tasking – is
there a better way?
Introduction to Email
Overload and What You
Can Do About it
How to Get What You
Want From Every
Email You Send
An Empty In-box:
Is it possible (or
even desirable)?
Why you should
NOT check email
first thing in the
morning!
Email Mastery
Webinar Series

Email
Mastery
Next Webinar
Tuesday 14 May
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Australian Eastern Standard Time
This webinar will uncover the two
main reasons why most of us struggle
to ever clear the inbox and show a
proven process to help you handle
each message only once and get your
in-box empty each day.
This webinar discusses;
• the proven 4D approach to get
(and keep) your in-box empty
• getting to zero from where you
are now
• how to manage activities and
tasks that arrive via e-mail
• how to manage e-mails when
you’re waiting for a reply
What you learn will change the way
you work forever!

Email Mastery: Webinar #3 - Constant E-mail Interruptions & Multi-Tasking slideshow

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Email Mastery: Webinar #3 - Constant E-mail Interruptions & Multi-Tasking slideshow