Worried about your emails?
#productivity hack
Emails drive a PMs life and there is no way of getting away from this.We can choose to allow it only to drive our work life….
Do not access your email whilst on holiday. Not even once. Turn turn off your mailbox if you have them on your phone. The practice have your mobile number if it’s that urgent.
Relax, connect with family and friends, recharge….
Monday morning, doing the morning walk around, say hello, ask “anything that can’t wait until this afternoon? “ Deal with anything that is urgent and important , schedule time with people in the afternoon for anything that doesnt have to be done before lunch.
Let everyone know that you are just going to “deal with your emails” , you’ll be out of your office when you’re finished, no interruptions until then , unless the building is on fire!
Pop a note on your door “dealing with my emails, don’t interrupt unless the building is on fire, write your name on the list below and I’ll pop and see you when I’m done”
Brew coffee / tea , sit down, open outlook – write down the number emails in your inbox – express gratitude that it is not 100 more 
Sort emails by “from”.
Start at A – Decision one –
1. Need to read – do not read, move on
2. Do not need to read because I am too busy – delete all from this sender
3. Do not need to read and never will – select emails and click junk – this will stop these emails entering your inbox ever again.
Work through to Z. Note how many emails you have left.
Make a cup of coffee / tea if this has taken more than 1 hour – otherwise do not because you know someone will catch you and ask a question!
Remain sorted by from.
Start at Z – Decision 2 – Eisenhower prioritisation
Read email and add outlook category
Red – Urgent and Important
Orange – Urgent but not important
Blue – Important but not urgent
Green – Not important , Not Urgent (interesting)
Archive – email was for info and required no action – move to inbox sub folder
Delete – now I have read it turn out I wasted my time and I could have deleted it (don’t forget that junk button!)Note how many emails you have left.
This will surely be over 1 hour. So make yourself a drink , if the sun’s still shining pop around the block. Just 5 minutes , say you have to pop to the shop if you worry that people with suddenly think your strange leaving the practice during day light hours!
Return, Sit down (check building hasn’t burned down) now sort by category (ignore any new ones that have come in, they can wait).
Start with Green – read again, are you really going to have time to absorb / action / implement these emails? They have landed in this category because they are nice to do, not need to do. Delete or keep “just in case” the choice is yours.Next Orange – these are urgent but not important, these are likely to be urgent to someone else (and may well be important to them) but they are not important to you. What would happen if you didn’t take this action? Some stakeholders we can afford to ignore until they perhaps ask again – that urgent questionnaire about XY and Z for example. Some we can not – the urgent claim submission. If you can “risk it” hit delete, if not change to red – you just made this urgent and important.Next Red – you decided these were urgent and important – take the time to consider if this is still the case. Be brutal – your choices here are delete, delegate or do. If it’s a do leave it where it is for now. Do not be tempted to do anything, not even to reply “yes”!If you’re delegating, forward the email to your chosen colleague, you either need to :
Be really explicit in what you expect them to do and when you expect them to do it.
or
let them know that you understand this is a bit complicated and invite them to schedule X minutes with you before x date to discuss.
Change the category to purple on the original email – “delegated / awaiting action from another” – you have delegated the responsibility to complete the task to another but you remain accountable for this action being taken. You will check your purple emails to ensure the task has been completed / escalated.
Next blue – These are important but not urgent – I can guarantee you these actions will have the biggest impact on your practice – they will be the strategic tasks, crucial to success but never urgent. They will never get done unless you follow the next steps religiously.Count how many emails you have left in your inbox and how many you have in each category. Rejoice. Take a break, it might even be lunch time!
Despite the sign you’ll have been interrupted several times, direct people to add their name to the list unless they’re crying (I understand this is a reality at the moment). After a break check the list, check in with those listed and anyone who asked to speak with you that morning.
Hopefully you have an hour or two left?? No matter how little time you have left choose 1 blue item to work on first thing tomorrow. Prep everything you need to get this done , if you need something from someone else ask them for it and choose something else to work on tomorrow. Print the email, on an actual piece of paper!
Review how many emails you processed today, Leave.
Each working day:
Do the morning walk around, say hello, ask anything that can’t wait until this afternoon? Deal with anything that is urgent and important , schedule time with people in the afternoon for anything that doesnt have to be done before lunch.
Sit down and start your blue task, do not open your email, you printed the task so you didn’t have to open outlook. “Eat the frog” 
Do not stop until completed / you lose motivation (you can always pick it up tomorrow.)
Do not stop until completed / you lose motivation (you can always pick it up tomorrow.)Reward yourself with a cup of coffee / tea. 
Open outlook. Do not read new emails. Sort by red category and complete the most urgent actions first. Keep going until you have spent an hour or two / lose motivation. Have a break, check in with the team.
Return to emails – repeat the prioritisation steps above.
Red – Urgent and Important
Orange – Urgent but not important
Blue – Important but not urgent
Green – Not important , Not Urgent (interesting)
Archive – email was for info and required no action – move to inbox sub folder
Delete – now I have read it turns out I wasted my time and I could have deleted it (don’t forget that junk button!)
Process emails-
Green – still interesting?
Orange – delete or make red
Red – delete or delegate or leave to do
Purple – check in has a task been done , delete – not heard back – follow up – needs immediate corrective action – ie not heard back and now critical make Red.
Complete Red tasks – complete actions for 1-2 hours , break, check in with team. (Because you only categorised and didn’t action any of your Red tasks some will be very quick – this is essential!)
If your energy is dropping, find a green that still interests you and take some action. This will give you a little boost.
If you are having a really high energy moment hit another blue task. They will never cause you stress when “undone” but will always give you satisfaction when completed.
Rinse and repeat… it will feel clunky at first.. a bit like changing gear when you started to learn to drive.. soon it will become automatic… you’ll have to work it around the interruptions, meetings and non email tasks…
Don’t forget the human contact, otherwise you’ll become an email processing machine! Time with humans is never wasted and will result in increased productivity in the long run.
I hope this helps just one person.
If you give it a go let me know how you get on.
Have a great holiday, you deserve it, recharge , reconnect and come back ready to regain control.