I have written in the past about the scourge of email as it plays a central role in the running of my business.
On the one hand I encourage persons to contact me by email as it is asynchronous communication. That is, unlike the phone it does not require both of us to be present at the same time. This interruptive, attention sapping, concentration breaking communication from the phone is something that I simply will not tolerate in my business.
But the downside of diverting the vast majority of this communication to email to allow me respond at a time that is most convenient for me, having assessed the priority the email should have when compared to other emails seeking my attention, is I receive a great deal of email on a daily basis.
And if, like me, you are always aiming for a state of ‘inbox zero’ you find yourself being greatly distracted by the email(s) sitting in my inbox. This has significant knock-on effects on my ability to concentrate on my other work.
The volume is getting so great that I will have to assess is there a better way for me to deal with email in my business. I think this is an area of my life and business that I will have to take a close look at.
Maybe this weekend, as the weekend allows me a bit of space and time to focus on work that requires a bit of full on attention and concentration. Because I can ignore my emails, at least for the weekend.