GTD Insight #33: Maximizing Email Happiness

How often to you check your email?  If you work in a techcentric environment, this question may seem odd as email becomes akin to breathing, an unconscious act that continues throughout the day.  I'd like to suggest that there is a pleasure to email that overchecking can dullen.  Read on.

Email can be pleasurable when it's surprising, when it delivers an anticipated response or when it relaxes the reader.  Unfortunately, when we check email over and over again, our sense of email pleasure softens, making email another mundane task that takes up our time.

Today's GTD Insight is very simple- check email several times during the day but don't overcheck.  The GTD practitioner knows how to strike the balance between getting his work done and still enjoying the little things, like a piece of good news delivered via email.

Comments

[curtismchale]

I actually shut Thunderbird down and only check it 3 times a day. Morning after lunch and before the day ends. If something is instantly important I have a phone number.

[Mike St. Pierre]

Curtis, great discipline. Thanks for stopping by TDS,

Mike

[Dan]

I use Gmail, and have filters setup to make all the unimportant messages skip the inbox. Since the Gmail notifier built into the desktop Google Talk client only shows new messages if they are in the inbox, I can ignore all the unimportant messages, and instantly know when something more important is emailed to me.

It works great for me - I know of all the important emails, and the unimportant stuff can be sorted out once or twice per day. :)

[Mike St. Pierre]

Dan, great tip, thanks! Stop back to TDS often in 08,
Mike