As a business owner, I get between 400 and 600 emails a day…
… most of them are from people asking for us to promote what they are doing, selling, or building for us to promote to our huge database of industry decision-makers and music and music consumers The average person can get up to 200 emails a day.
I have set up a separate email for a majority of the people who are asking for something from us and have staff scan for order of importance and posting. I had to prioritize the situation as it was a necessity and you will understand why as you read more and how this can help you too.
We absolutely destroy ourselves by spreading ourselves too thin. Here are some tips to consider when going through your email and how it can affect your mental state and your daily schedule:
- Prioritize your emails. Not all emails are created equal. Some emails are more important and urgent than others. Prioritize your emails so that you’re spending your time on the most important things.
- Set aside time for email. Don’t let email take over your life. Set aside specific times each day to check and respond to emails, my suggestion is to do the first check at noon. This will allow you to get your planned work done and still give you time to respond if needed, that day.
- Take breaks. ONCE A DAY… Don’t check email all the time. This is gonna be a hard habit to break but it’s not impossible and can increase your peace of mind.
- Delegate emails. If you have someone who can help you with email, delegate it to them. This will free up your time so that you can focus on other things. (this is what I do)
- Say no. It’s okay to say no to requests. You can’t do everything, so don’t be afraid to say no to things that aren’t important or that you don’t have time for. The people who send you emails are almost always about getting what THEY want, they don’t care about what YOU want. Focus on what works best for YOU especially when there is no benefit for you or your brands.
By following these tips, you can manage your email more effectively and avoid the negative effects of spreading yourself too thin.
Here’s how checking your email several times a day is affecting you!
Loss of Focus
When you check your email first thing in the morning, your attention is immediately pulled into multiple directions—each email potentially representing a new task or issue. This scatter of focus can make it difficult to return to the concentrated state necessary for productive work on your planned tasks.
Reactive vs. Proactive
Constantly checking emails tends to put you in a reactive mode. Rather than focusing on achieving your own goals, you find yourself continually responding to other people’s needs and requests, which often have nothing to do with your primary objectives.
Time Sink
Sorting, reading, and replying to emails can consume an inordinate amount of time. This is especially true if your inbox is filled with spam, newsletters, or other non-urgent messages that you need to sift through to find what’s actually important.
Cognitive Load
The brain has a limited amount of cognitive processing power. Managing an onslaught of emails, each with its own set of demands and decisions can overwhelm your cognitive faculties. This can lead to decreased effectiveness when you try to tackle your main tasks.
Interruption Costs
Studies show that it takes an average of about 23 minutes to fully return to a task after an interruption. Constantly breaking away from what you’re doing to check emails has a cumulative time cost, making tasks take longer than they should.
Urgency Illusion
Emails often come with implied timelines and expectations for quick replies. This creates a false sense of urgency, tempting you to drop everything to deal with them. The urgency is often illusory, but the cost to your schedule is real.
Decision Fatigue
Every decision you make, from simple to complex, taxes your mental energy. Constantly having to decide how to categorize, prioritize, or respond to each email throughout the day can result in decision fatigue, diminishing your capacity to make good choices later on.
Emotional Drain
Emails can carry emotional weight, especially if they contain criticisms, confrontations, or negative feedback. Managing this emotional toll can be draining and divert energy away from your more critical tasks.
Clutter and Confusion
Without effective email organization, you run the risk of your inbox becoming a chaotic mix of important tasks, irrelevant information, and even junk mail. This clutter makes it difficult to prioritize what really needs to be done, causing confusion and inefficiency.
Missed Opportunities
By spending a disproportionate amount of time on emails, you may miss out on opportunities for strategic thinking, networking, and creative work. These aspects are often crucial for long-term career development and personal growth but are easily overlooked when you’re mired in the immediacy of your inbox.
In conclusion…
The only thing that is in “emergency” is your peace of mind... guard it at all costs and do not loan it out or allow others to benefit from it. You can only do what you can do but first and foremost you have to take care of yourself and your mental state. You will be amazed at how emails can totally disrupt your day when you constantly check them. Relax… take your time prioritize and Good luck.
