Stick to a Routine

There’s no “definitive” system. The best framework is the one that works for you. Ideally, it should model your work style, supporting the way you work. Bonus points if it’s low-maintenance, fast to set up, and adaptable as your work changes.

Some people like to use folders with specific actions (do, delegate, reply), while others prefer the deadline-driven approach (today, tomorrow, next week).

Some examples:

• Undo Send: for when you accidentally press the send button.
• Canned Responses: create a template that you can reuse with canned responses.
• Send and Archive: Automatically archive an email after replying to it using the send and archive button.

There are many different philosophies when it comes to managing your email inbox. 

You can use your inbox as a catchall, limit it to only high-priority messages, or make it a working task list. Choose one purpose for your inbox and stick with it.

Create an email whitelist to ensure those messages get through, and a blacklist for what you consider spam addresses.

• Only use enough quotations to establish the context.
• Your reply should come below it.
• When possible, cut and reformat the quoted text.
• Get tasks out of your email and into a task manager.

Ask yourself:

• What’s the meaning and the value of the message?
• What action does this message require of me?

... to read and respond to email. Don’t leave your email program open all day long. Alerts from incoming messages can interrupt your work flow. Instead, schedule specific blocks of time throughout the day for checking your email. 

You might even try marking your calendar and setting your availability to “busy.” If necessary, turn off your cellphone and shut your office door to prevent interruptions.

• browse the inbox for emails that can be immediately deleted (spam or promotional emails). Then select messages that don’t require a response and delete or archive them. 
• Don’t let important emails sit in your inbox for days. Unless you’re on vacation, respond within 48 hours. Reply to the sender as soon as you’ve read his or her message.
• If you’re unable to respond immediately, communicate to the sender that you received the message and will be in touch shortly. Set a deadline and follow up.

... during the day can be an effective way to keep your inbox at manageable levels.

However, the constant interruption and distraction that comes from it can dramatically lower your productivity, and disrupt your ability to enter a state of flow when working on high value projects.

• Try using the "Two-Minute Rule" when you read your mail: if the email will take less than two minutes to read and reply to, then take care of it right now, even if it's not a high priority.
• For emails that will take longer than two minutes to read or respond to, schedule time on your calendar, or add this as an action on your To-Do List , to do later. 

Unsubscribe from every list that doesn’t offer solid value for your business.

Interrupting a task with notifications leads to a loss of concentration and a decline in productivity levels.

Feel free to set up an autoresponder re-directing all urgent matters to your phone.

• Collect: Get ideas and to-dos out of your brain and onto a list.
• Process: Review your list daily and decide how to act on each item.
• Plan: Pick a few high priority items to accomplish each week and every day.
• Do: Schedule time to accomplish your selected to-dos without interruptions.

To clear your mind and improve focus, get your ideas and to-dos out of your mind and onto a list. 

Documenting to-dos in the moment lessens the likelihood that you'll forget to do something and gives you a master list of to-dos to reference when you're trying to decide where to direct your time.

Give them a seemingly impossible list of tasks and they will have them done and dusted faster than a speeding bullet. But in their haste, they can miss things and prioritize nonurgent tasks.

Strategy: For this type, ranking tasks according to urgency is a good call. 

Very sociable and upbeat but with a tendency to procrastinate, they often boast about their nonexistent achievements giving the impression they are more productive than they really are.

Strategy: breaking tasks into tiny steps, scheduling their resolution and setting reminders works well. Email management according to urgency is also crucial considering how much time it usually consumes. 

Your system must mimic how your brain searches rather than setting up a new task that you must learn. This way, it will be easy to adopt, adapt and you will continue to use it in the long run. 

You don’t want to spend time thinking about a system and setting it up only to stop using it. Or – even worse – make you do additional steps every time.

At its very core a productivity system must check 3 main points:

• Searchable: find anything in 5 seconds or less
• Easy to set up: the simpler the system the easier it will be to set it up; aim for less than one hour
• Easy to maintain: don’t add complexity as you go, instead try to remove layers.