Help! I Have a Ton of E-mails!!

I am sure you have heard people complaining about having so many e-mails.  Technology is unbelievable.  From Facebook to twitter to e-mails, communication has become so much easier than what it used to be.  But in some ways, I think that technology has become a "crutch" for us.

When I walk through the hallways at work, it seems like everyone is stuck on the computer.  And almost always, when I stick my head in the door to say 'Hi", I am told that they are trying to get through their e-mails.  Sometimes thousands of e-mails.

And so it has become acceptable and expected to sit on the computer for hours at a time and look through your e-mails, answering certain ones and ignoring others until a later time.  And it keeps us so busy.  After all, we have tons of e-mail because we are important, right?  People need us.  They need our advice and expertise.  Right?

After all, how would you look if you only spent 10-15 minutes on e-mail every morning and then at the end of the day?  For most, you wouldn't be viewed as very important.  You wouldn't be viewed as being needed.  You would surely need to get your act together and communicate electronically with customers and prospects more often.

Or just maybe, instead of spending hours on sorting through e-mails and answering some and igoring others, you could visit a prospect or hand-write a "thank you" note to a colleague, or you could spend some time planning, and strategizing, and focusing on new ideas to grow the company.

I challenge you to have a zero e-mail policy.  Spend a day and get rid of all of your e-mails and then keep them as close to zero daily as possible.  I believe it will free up your time and allow you to do more meaningful and productive things more often.

After all, Edison, Vanderbilt, Colonel Sanders, Carnegie, Macy, and Henry Ford never once answered an e-mail!