Have you ever sat down to do some work and decided to catch up on news or social media at the same time? Or maybe you have a lot going on so you double up on work and cooking dinner? Did you find that you did better, or more productive work? If so, then according to the Cleveland Clinic, you’re part of only 2.5% of the population that can multitask well. 

That’s it! 2.5%!

Multitasking, for the overwhelming majority of people, makes us less efficient. We may think we can multitask, but the reality is that most of us aren’t as capable as we think. That’s just our egos convincing us we are.

Now think about this – you’re at work, and you’re looking through your inbox. You’re on the first email, and it’s taking up a lot of your focus, but then another email pops in and it draws you away from what you were doing…do you think you’ll be able to effectively manage both of those emails at the same time? 

Of course not! That’s multitasking!

Now multiply that scenario by dozens of emails, and suddenly you’ll find yourself being pulled in equally as many directions. Even if you’re part of that 2.5% of people who can multitask, there is still a limit to how much we can do. Working on four or five different tasks or emails at the same time will result in poor quality work, or you may even bleed information from one email over into another. When it comes down to it, your inbox might be creating a distracting work environment.

I guarantee you that your favorite client won’t be happy if you use the wrong name to address them, or your boss will call you into the office if you send sensitive information to the wrong person.

But it isn’t just when you’re inside your inbox that this issue arises. If you’re working on a report, but you have your email open, and ¡BING! you get a notification for an email, you’ll be far too tempted to stop what you’re doing now to check what just came in. We can’t help but be drawn to the shiny new thing that pops up, right?

So it really comes down to this: when you’re doing work, stay focused on that work. Make sure you implement email best practices, and don’t allow yourself to stray from what you’re doing. Make sure to schedule times to check your email so you know when you can take a break from work and double check nothing important has come through during that time. In nearly 99% of all cases, the email that came in can wait the extra 20 or 30 minutes for you to finish what you’re doing now before addressing it.

In the end, you’ll be able to save time by implementing healthy email habits.

But if you’re not exactly sure what those healthy habits are or what they look like, I can show you. Register for this complimentary 45-minute webinar and I’ll help you learn how to feel in control of your inbox, be more responsive to important collaborators, and reduce your anxiety and stress. Tame the Email Beast!

ARTT™ demonstrates time-saving techniques within Outlook primarily; however, the concept is platform-agnostic. It is about teaching your human habits connected to technology (whether Outlook, Gmail, or [insert your email platform here]). 

Register for your favorite date today and I look forward to having you at the program.