Inbox Zero Managing Email Overload with Action Based Email

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Inbox ZeroManaging Email Overload with Action
Based Email

• Christian Veillette M.D., M.Sc., FRCSC
• Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
• Shoulder Elbow Reconstructive Surgery
• Toronto Western Hospital University Health
  Network
• Email orthonet_at_gmail.com

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Objectives

• Learn a system for handling email overload
• Understand the difference between checking email
  and processing email

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Email Overload

• Problem of email overload is taking a toll on all
  our time, productivity, and sanity
• Why?

Lack a cohesive system for processing our
messages and converting them into appropriate
actions as quickly as possible
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Then

• 1995 first email account
• PINE
• Did not need a system

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Now

• Email now one source for all incoming and
  outgoing information
• Only way you are going to succeed is figuring out
  how to deal with high volume email
• Remember - Life outside email

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Time Attention are finite.
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Time Attention are finite.
Concept Joel Spolsky
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Inbox Zero

• Quickly answering a few escalating questions
  about each email message in my inbox
• What does this message mean to me, and why do I
  care?
• What action, if any, does this message require of
  me?
• Whats the most elegant way to close out this
  message and the nested action it contains?

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Inbox Zero

• Emails just a medium
• One place for anything
• Process to zero
• Convert to actions

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What is Processing?
More than checking Less than responding
Decide what action to take with each email
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Action based email
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What are your actions?
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The Processing Habit?
We are what we frequently do- Aristotle
If you want to stop being part of the majority
whose ass is getting kicked by email every day,
its time to get serious about improving your
habits.
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Do Email Less

• Ultimate Goal - Spend less time playing with your
  email and more time doing stuff
• Say no to crack(berry) - always on approach to
  email
• What if I miss something?
• Schedule email dashes - ganging your related
  email work into a focused few minutes of
  hard-edged activity performed on a regular
  schedule

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Benefits of the scheduled email dash

• Gets you out of the perpetual notification
  business
• allowing you to focus on your non-email work
  without interruption or distratction
• Gives you more contextual insight into your true
  priorities
• rather than letting the existence of new mail
  always equate the need for your instant and
  undivided attention
• dash format forces you to wisely pick best use of
  your time
• surprisingly many crises will resolve
  themselves between dashes
• Regular schedule firewalls your time and
  attention
• ensures that you wont get so absorbed in hitting
  Get new mail that the real thinking work gets
  short shift

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Cheat!

• Create filters
• Noisy, frequent, and non-urgent items which can
  be dealt with all at a pass and later
• friend requests and similar announcements from
  community sites like Facebook or Flickr
• mailing lists and subscribed forum threads
• regular updates like newsletters and office memos
  
• non-spam store updates, coupons, and sale
  announcements

When you check your email and find yourself
groaning Ugh, this again? consider creating a
filter.
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My Inbox
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Thank you
The Orthopaedic Internet A Collaborative
Resource