How to Let Go of the Biggest Time-Suck of Your Day

By: Alexis Martin Neely

If you're anything like the majority of people today, one of the areas you are most bogged down in is your email.

With hundreds of emails a day from clients, office staff, associates, family and friends, it's hard to get a handle on what really needs your attention and what can wait until later.

And right now, you are the filter of it all-which means reading each and every email and responding (or forwarding them) accordingly.

Email is a huge drain that is not only keeping you from your creative genius, but also from enjoying free time and staying on top of everything you need to do to meet your client's needs.

Hard Lessons Learned from Productivity "Gurus"

Until recently, I was very guilty of spending too much time filtering emails and responding to things that really didn't need my attention.

A couple of years ago, I read Tim Ferris' book, the Four Hour Workweek, and even interviewed him for the Law Business Revolution members. Honestly, I tried to implement his suggestion of only checking email twice a day and using autoresponders to handle the rest. Sadly though, I learned the hard way that Tim's strategy DOES NOT work for client service focused businesses!

My clients, friends and family felt the autoresponders were cold and detached from my usual attentive nature. They wanted to speak with me, their lawyer or their coach, and I was essentially telling them "you're just not important enough for my time right now".

Not to mention, some of the things that came through really did require my immediate attention and just couldn't wait until my "designated email checking time" later that evening.

So needless to say, I fell of the Tim Ferris wagon very quickly.

Letting go of Your Email IS Possible

But I had to do something because my inbox was out of control. At any one time, I'd have as many as 500 emails waiting for a response from me (and that was after I had deleted the ones that I could toss or respond to quickly!)

I began to notice that my stress level corresponded nearly exactly to the number of emails waiting for my reply. I had to do something! Fortunately, after a brainstorming session with my Executive Vice President, Laura Lee Sparks, I discovered a very doable way to relinquish control of my email without letting down my clients or allowing work to fall through the cracks.

Essentially, you need to hire an email manager to act as your filter. Your email manager must be someone you trust to determine what's important and what can be handled by other members on the team.

Your email manager will send the things that need your attention within 24 hours to a special, private email that only you and a few trusted team members know about. He or she will personally respond to everything that needs acknowledgment with a pre-scripted message that can be edited in appropriate circumstances. Something along the lines of:

Subject line: Alexis Has Received Your Message

Dear ,

This is Michelle Foster, Alexis' executive assistant. I've received your email to Alexis and wanted to let you know that she is traveling today [in meetings all day today] [overloaded with email], [won't be able to get back with you personally] etc.

Alexis greatly appreciates you and doesn't want you to feel ignored by the fact that she cannot get back with you so she has asked me to follow up with you personally to ensure you get what you need.

Please email me back and let me know how I can help so I can ensure your needs are met promptly.

If you must talk with Alexis directly, please let me know what you need to speak with her about so I can check in with her and determine when she may have available time on her calendar. In the meantime, a great way to stay connected to what Alexis is up to is by subscribing to her Wealth Secrets online magazine at http://www.FamilyWealthMatters.com.

Sincerely, Michelle Foster

Emails should then be labeled in folders or marked with icons in your original email account so you know what needs your attention, what's been responded to and what is just FYI when you log in to check your account once or twice a day.

Take the Leap and Let Go of Email Management!

I'm the first person to admit that delegating email to an email manager can be scary-especially for us control freaks.

But, I can promise you that once you get a system in place, you'll never look back. You'll realize just how much time you were wasting each day and you'll now have more time to do that which brings more revenue and enjoyment into your business and your life.

Article Source: http://articles-book.com

Alexis Martin Neely is America's Personal Family Lawyer, author of the bestselling book "Wear Clean Underwear! A Fast, Fun, Friendly - and Essential - Guide to Legal Planning for Busy Parents" and the nation's leading legal expert guiding you to smart financial and legal decisions for your family. Subscribe to Alexis' free online magazine, Family Wealth Secrets, and have wealth advice delivered right to your inbox each week.

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