Email Triage Fulfills Its Promise
Rewind back to Monday morning. I’m sitting at my computer, coffee in hand, with a deep sense of dread and foreboding about what’s in that inbox I’m looking at.
I know there are emails I need to address. Questions clients have asked. Initial inquiries from prospects wanting to hire me to build their website. Answers to questions I’ve asked. I know they’re in there…I’ve seen them…but I can’t find them now because they’re buried. The little whirly-gig is still spinning as the seemingly endless stream of emails comes in shoving the ones already there further out of sight…out of mind…
Email…my business lives and dies by it. Regardless of the many “systems” I’ve tried to adopt to manage it over the years, it still gets out of hand in the blink of an eye. When that happens, and I know I’m missing things, a good chunk of my energy and effectiveness is siphoned off worrying about it. Let it go on too long, and I’m stressed out before I even start my day. That’s where I found myself, yet again, this past Monday morning. “There’s no way I’m starting the week like this,” I told myself.
While I was sitting there, sipping my coffee, I saw this email pop into my inbox:
Email Triage: Calm Email Stress and Overwhelm in 30 Minutes (or Less)
Holy cow – I couldn’t click it open fast enough! It was from Charlie Gilkey over at Productive Flourishing. I’m a big fan of Charlie’s…I like the way he thinks, I like his perspective on things and most importantly, if Charlie’s got a way for me to calm email stress and overwhelm in 30 minutes or less – you can bet your sweet bippy I’m gettin’ my hands on that! I trust him not to pump sunshine up my skirt – Charlie wouldn’t mess with a stressed out, email-inundated, self-employed, one-woman-show single mom like that.
What is Email Triage?
“Email Triage is a process for sorting through your Inbox and determining what needs to be deleted, what needs to be archived, and, finally, what needs your attention. Just as medical professionals need to determine who needs their attention based upon the severity of their condition, we need to determine what email messages need our attention based on the kind of messages they are.”
What Did I Get with Email Triage?
- A guided audio program that’s a little over 16 minutes long
- A 19-page ebook that discusses the process more in-depth
- A worksheet that lists the steps of Email Triage in a handy 3×5 format
How Much Does Email Triage Cost?
$10 No kidding.
What Were My Results Using Email Triage?
I’m happy to report my inbox went from 723 to 54 emails in the space of 20 minutes. Better than that – I found 3 – count them: THREE! – requests from new clients that I didn’t know I had.
Best $10 bucks I’ve spent in a very long time!
I’ve done email triage once a day since Monday, and my inbox has just 25 emails in it, and I haven’t unsubscribed from anything! It takes about 5 minutes to do now, and I don’t have to worry about what’s lurking in my dang inbox anymore.
So, go on – get Email Triage. Who knows what you’ll find hidden in that inbox of yours?!
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October 1, 2009
at 3:56 pm
Sounds great to me! I will check it out.
Earlier this year, I took a teleclass called “Detox Your Inbox” (I fell totally for the compelling title!). There I learned to “process” my email vs. “check” my email. That was a big mindset shift (I mean, really, what am I checking it for? Head lice? LOL!). “Checking” gets you nowhere. But “processing” it moves things forward. Aha! I was on to something now… but still, my inbox would get out of control.
And then, this summer I tried — and fell in LOVE with — a nifty Outlook add-on called “QuickFile.” This helps me “process” my email MUCH more quickly and efficiently. And find things again. And find my replies quickly. It’s fantastic!!
So, I will now learn how to triage my email.
Sigh. There are days when I wonder what my REAL job is. LOL.
.-= Martha Carnahan´s last blog ..Bitter about Twitter? =-.
October 1, 2009
at 6:36 pm
Oh Martha – I can SO identify with wondering that…!! I’m sure you’ll really appreciate Email Triage, because you’ve already made that shift from “checking” to “processing” email.
October 1, 2009
at 5:47 pm
This was awesome!!!
I’ve been living in terror of my inbox for months now. My un-returned emails have been hanging over me, sapping my energy every time I open my inbox. Yuck!
I read your post, I bought the thing asap, and now I have a mere 20 emails still in my inbox to deal with.
I can do that!
Amazing.
Love ya,
Andrea
October 1, 2009
at 6:41 pm
Andrea – awesome is an understatement where this is concerned, IMHO! I’m so glad you got it and got the same relief I did. Charlie calls it “serene readiness”…that feeling you and I now have about our inboxes, and he’s right…that’s exactly what I feel. Sounds like you feel it, too.
October 3, 2009
at 7:17 am
Love the new look and especially the warm and personal greeting on your About page. I’m not sure how much of that is new but it connects well.
I was deftly trying not to talk about my email in box. Oh my. Oh my. Sometimes we have to be ready to face mountains like the one I’ve created.
.-= Tom Volkar / Delightful Work´s last blog ..The True Calling Connection =-.
October 3, 2009
at 8:46 am
As someone who’s had a glimpse of your inbox…yes, my friend – oh my, oh my!
But you’re in good company here. Three mountainous inboxes have been leveled this week by Email Triage: mine, Andrea’s and Martha’s. If we can do it, you can, too!
Thanks for the positive feedback about the site, too. There’s only a little bit new on the About page, but making it connect well was the aim, so thanks for that!