Today I want to talk about an essential skill for any leader or executive: managing your time effectively.
Many leaders make a huge predictable mistake when they try to manage their time better: they do more. They add more projects to their schedule, cram in more meetings, and skimp on sleep and health.
But working harder just makes you busier, not more effective.
The secret to managing your time well is to work smarter and more effectively—to do less work but get even better results.
One of the quickest, simplest ways you can manage your time better is to organize and automate your email inbox. Coach Marshall Hughes, one of our top executive coaches and COO of a $40-million company, can teach you this essential executive skill in his 21-day course, Control Your Inbox – 21 days to the sustainable freedom of Inbox Zero. It’s available for the next 24 hours only for $9.99, two-thirds off the usual price.
Email eats away so much of your time, you probably don’t even notice it. The average worker checks their email 36 times an hour. The productivity cost of bad email habits can amount to $7,150 per year per person.[1] Some research shows that 40% of staff time is spent on internal emails alone.[2]
That’s a lot of wasted time and wasted money.
Coach Marshall Hughes knows these costs very well, which is why he not only abides by Inbox Zero and other proven email management strategies, but also he teaches Inbox Zero to every single one of his employees.
“Not spending my life with my head in email meant I always focused on what needed doing. Since teaching Inbox Zero to my employees, I’ve noticed that their attitude and treatment of email is different now and it’s not the primary method of communication. I don’t expect my staff to respond to emails outside work hours and they in turn don’t expect their contacts to either. They’re happier and more effective. You can be, too.”
Whether you’re an executive or intern, you can perform better and create more value for your company or organization by spending less of your time on email. And if you’ve already optimized your email strategy, you can get back even more time (and value) by getting your colleagues and employees on the Inbox Zero bandwagon today.
Follow these steps to stop wasting so much time on email:
Step #1: Sign up for Coach Marshall’s 21-day course for controlling your email once and for all and reaching inbox zero. The course is available at $9.99 for the next 24 hours.
Step #2: Commit 10-20 minutes everyday for the next 21 days to clean out your inbox and build habits that will help you work smarter, faster, and get back wasted time you used to spend writing and reading emails. Work at your own pace–some steps may take you longer than others.
Step #3: Complete the first day’s activity and then check-in on the app. The first step is quick: create an archive folder and sync up the email systems on all of your devices in preparation for day 2, when you’ll learn Coach Marshall’s Clean the Slate and FAD methods for managing your inbox.
[1] https://www.atlassian.com/time-wasting-at-work-infographic
[2] http://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2012/dec/17/ban-staff-email-halton-housing-trust
“Marshall’s advice on Inbox Zero resulted in removing 25,000 personal and 9,600 work emails from my inbox and keeping the number under 15 on an ongoing basis. He tailored his program to meet my timeline and needs and followed up consistently. He is a great coach!”
