Testing a fixed schedule to check emails (Day 1)
The past 2 days at work I felt I was in total reactive mode answering emails and worrying about them 😐.
Monday was as terrible as Monday can be, and I regretted my decision to book an 8am dentist appointment to start the week. Note to self: don’t book appointments at 8am on Mondays. I was a complete mess, I couldn’t plan my week or my day, I had 3 meetings back-to-back, so it wasn’t going to be a very productive day anyway (again, Mondays are the worst).
Yesterday I was still feeling out of my game, I was tired, I had a headache and some low back pain. There was a lot of communication activities with my coworkers, answering questions, answering emails and phone calls. After I did my shutdown routine in the afternoon, I felt 10% better and I left work 15 minutes early. I went to the gym afterwards and my low back pain and headache disappeared, and I felt much better.
🎯 So today I decided to test out a fixed schedule to check emails, instead of having my emails tab always open.
My plan is to have half an hour blocks where I will open my email and process the inbox. After time is up I will close it and continue working on my tasks for the day. This is the gameplan:
✉ Check emails 4 times:
- 8:30am => A block right after I do my morning Daily Review slot
- 10:30am => Mid-morning check
- 1:00pm => Post lunch check
- 3:00pm => Mid-afternoon check
In my Shutdown Routine block at 4:30pm I will check it again to process any outstanding tasks I need to capture for the next day.
I set the emails blocks in my digital calendar so that I get a notification when they start:
I’ll see how that goes today!
Later!
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By Noisy Deadlines
Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.