Too Busy for Your Own Good (17 page)

Direct heating/air conditioning vents away from blowing on your face or head.

Use a small desk fan or heater. Place it at your feet for maximum benefits. (Be careful that the heater isn't too close to furniture or combustibles and the fan doesn't disturb your papers.)

Use saline nasal spray in dry months or with high temperatures—it will keep your nasal passages moist and less susceptible to floating irritants. Small humidifiers are great, and the cool-air types are easier on your nasal mucosa.

At work, your communication style can be your greatest asset in reducing busyness. If ineffective, the way you manage your communications with others can cost you much time
and cause many needless interruptions. In today's working world, face-to-face communication has taken a backseat to technology, making the way you handle e-mail and other online communication critical to your productivity. Fortunately, there are many smart, effective ways to maximize your use of e-mail, voice mail, and other technologies.

In October 2008, the New York–based research firm Basex published a study of a thousand office workers from top managers on down. It found that interruptions (spam, unnecessary e-mail, and instant messaging) now consume an average of 2.1 hours each day, or 28 percent of the workday. The two hours of lost productivity included not only unimportant interruptions and distractions but also the recovery time associated with getting back on task. Researchers found workplace interruptions for those who perform tasks involving information cost the U.S. economy $617 billion a year (based on an average salary of $21 an hour for the 56 million knowledge workers). That is entirely too much productivity lost, hours that our economy could definitely use. Fortunately enough, this is a problem that can be solved on the individual level, and the solution begins with you! Here are some ideas for coordinating your office communications for maximum efficiency.

Lose the Noise
. Turn off the alert sound. Not being able to hear it every time an e-mail comes your way will help wean you off your addiction to checking e-mail and immediately responding to or forwarding them.

Incoming E-Mails
. Limit the number of times per day you check e-mail. When you're constantly reacting to every e-mail, your brain gets taken off the task at hand, and then
it takes more time to get back on track. These constant distractions can add hours to your day and busyness. In
The 4-Hour Workweek
, author Timothy Ferriss advocates checking e-mail only twice a day, just before lunch and again at 4
P.M
., but
never
first thing in the morning. If you decide to implement this strategy, make sure you let people know to expect it. Create an auto-response that states the times of day that you check and respond to e-mail. Make it friendly, and give your phone number as an option for urgent assistance.

Deprive Contact
. Don't spoil your correspondents by responding too soon to e-mails, and stay off AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) or any version of instant messaging. Responding immediately or being always available can become a problem with how others perceive, and ultimately treat, you. It's a lot like dating—when someone's too available, they seem a little desperate and lose their mystery and value to you. The always-available date is nice and convenient at first, but your interest in your “easy date” lags sooner than if you have to work a little harder for his or her attention.

Filters
. Use the spam-filtering option on your e-mail software. Make filters for your boss, clients, coworkers, suppliers, friends, and family. I use a color-coding system, such as green for clients, red for priority, blue for friends, etc., and can quickly sort by color and attend to priorities without distractions.

Folders
. Make separate mailboxes or folders for current projects, cases, or clients. Keep it simple: the more folders you have, the less efficient it is to remember which folder goes with which project.

Establish rules
. Make agreements with coworkers to send only essential messages (i.e., eliminate “OK, thanks” notes) and to pick up the phone or meet in
person only when a subject can be handled person-to-person better.

Forwards
. When it comes to e-mail forwards, there is a time and a place for everything, and it's rarely ever “at the office during work hours.” I send a note to repeat offenders who constantly bombard me with those thought-you'd-like-this pieces: “I really appreciate your thinking of me, but please take me off your forward list.” Being polite but firm about this gets the point across without hurting anyone's feelings. You could suggest instituting a no-forwarding policy in your office: no forwards unless absolutely necessary. This may be a delicate situation for many of you who are uncomfortable sending a “cease and desist” e-mail to your mother-in-law or elderly grandmother. You can tell your mimaw that it's your office policy or use the filtering system to direct e-mail from her and your other well-meaning forwarders to a special folder. (I don't recommend having two e-mail addresses because the point is to streamline messages.)

Declare bankruptcy
. As a last resort (and I mean
last
), if your in-box has hundreds of unanswered messages, you need to get a fresh start. Transfer all the unread messages to a new mailbox named “BK in-box.” Don't read any of the messages. Instead, send a note to the senders of these e-mails that you can't respond: “I've gotten behind in my e-mail correspondence, and so I will have to get back to you later. If you still need my attention on this matter, please respond to this e-mail.” Many times the problem has been solved already. If anyone answers this e-mail, you can start over with prioritizing your time and attention appropriate to the request. Warning: before you click “send” on your bankruptcy e-mail, make sure a message from your supervisor or boss is not in this batch.

Breaking your e-mail addiction is like breaking any other addiction: take it one day at a time. It's difficult, I know. Responding to e-mail is a fine way to get things done when your brain's too tired to do more demanding work, but the trick is to not let it take over your entire day.