Email

1.      Check e-mails only once a day. It’s a tempting toy, but a sinkhole for time and energy.

2.      Don’t open your e-mail first thing in the morning if you’re a morning person. You’ll end up giving away your best thirty to sixty minutes each day, when you’re freshest and most productive,

3.      Turn off the sound on your computer that signals the arrival of each new e-mail.

4.      Don’t respond to messages unless you have too. Your quick “Thanks Bernie – have a great weekend,” is just one more message for him to download, open, read and delete. It can be a greater courtesy not to reply.

5.      Keep your messages short – it saves time for everyone.

6.      If you’re sending the same message to multiple people, use the “blind cc” option so the recipients see only their own name.

7.      Use high – or highest – priority designations only when you really mean it.

8.      Get your name taken off as many e-mail lists as possible. This includes jokes lists – unless the jokes are really funny.

9.      Use filtering programs if you’re inundated with unwanted e-mails.

10.  Be your own filtering system. Before you press send, ask yourself if the message really need to be sent at all.

Communication is a great thing. Over-communication is blight. Use your toys wisely – and encourage others to do the same.