That giant sucking sound you hear is your time going down the Internet drain as you check your e-mail for the twentieth time today. (Round about noon or so.)
Sure, there’s Twitter. There’s Facebook. There’s all the general Web grazin’ you can do on any given day. But for me – and I’m betting for you too – the biggest suck of all is still good ol’ e-mail.
I’ve read and heard what Tim Ferris has to say about it.
I know it is the enemy of “getting things done.”
I even noted that e-mail remains a target in Seth Godin’s latest book, Linchpin.
But I have yet to really act on the obvious and do something about my e-mail addiction.
So, this week I am taking a stand, and I invite you to join me.
At least for this week, I am dropping down to checking only three times a day – once in the early morning, once at around noon, and once at around 3:00.
Depending on how that goes, I may adjust up or down next week. I don’t expect to kick the habit over night.
I’m declaring my goal here because I believe Mary is right about “shouting it from the roof tops” and “finding buddies” (that would be you).
For me, this is one of the most obvious ways to free up more time for learning, which is incredibly important not only to my sense of personal fulfillment, but also to my professional success.
Maybe I’ll read something new or re-read something old.
Maybe I’ll review notes or reflect or bone up on some Spanish.
Mostly, though, I think I will concentrate on writing.
What about you? Are you ready to finally tame the e-mail monster? And what will it give you more time to do (aside, of course, from commenting on this blog post 
)
Jeff
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posted on February 22, 2010
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Good for you! I’m shifting down my email checking frequency as well, and like you I hope it will give me more time for writing, along with some important organizing projects I want to finish as we plan for a baby coming in May.
Thanks for the support, Thekla, and best of luck with your own efforts to curb the e-mail habit. I can’t say my record has been unblemished so far this week, mostly because of communication around a big project I am trying to nail down, but I have cut down my e-mail checking to very close to the levels in my post. It’s already making quite a lot of difference. – Jeff