Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that an empty inbox does not mean you
Speaker 1: don't have any more work to do. Indeed, whether your
Speaker 1: inbox is empty or full doesn't have a lot to
Speaker 1: do with what you should be focusing on next. Most likely,
Speaker 1: email is not your job. It is a tool to
Speaker 1: do your job. Best to keep that in perspective. So
Speaker 1: if you use one of the most popular email programs
Speaker 1: out there, when your inbox is empty, you get a
Speaker 1: message that says, all done for the day, Enjoy your
Speaker 1: empty inbox now. As cheerful as that sounds, it is
Speaker 1: most likely not accurate. Even when your inbox is empty,
Speaker 1: you are probably not all done for the day. It
Speaker 1: is easy to fall into the trap of believing that
Speaker 1: email and work are synonymous, but they are not. Just
Speaker 1: because your inbox is empty doesn't mean there's no work
Speaker 1: that you would be wise to do. You may have
Speaker 1: a meeting tomorrow where you will be asked about something complicated,
Speaker 1: and so you should prepare some defensible answers. You may
Speaker 1: have a colleague who you suspect is stuck on something
Speaker 1: and addressing that problem now will be a lot easier
Speaker 1: than addressing it a few hours before your deadline. You
Speaker 1: could be planning out the next week, or pursuing a
Speaker 1: speculative project, or figuring out if you need to hire
Speaker 1: someone new next year. Even when your email inbox is empty,
Speaker 1: there is probably important work you can and should be doing.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, even when your inbox is full,
Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that your full inbox should determine your
Speaker 1: to dos for the day. The tasks clamoring for your
Speaker 1: attention in your inbox may be your day's top priorities,
Speaker 1: but they might not be either. Only you can figure
Speaker 1: that out, and the random order with which things hit
Speaker 1: your inbox is not a substitute for wise decision making.
Speaker 1: How do you decide what to do? Longtime listeners know
Speaker 1: that I suggest planning the upcoming week on Fridays. By
Speaker 1: setting your priorities for the week before it even begins,
Speaker 1: you know exactly what you need to focus on when
Speaker 1: Monday morning rolls around. What needs to move forward this week,
Speaker 1: and how will you do that At the end of
Speaker 1: each workday, Also determine what steps on those projects you'll
Speaker 1: tackle the next work day. That way, when you get
Speaker 1: to your desk in the morning, you know what you
Speaker 1: need to do now. Of course, we all do need
Speaker 1: to deal with email at some point, maybe at three
Speaker 1: points during each work day, or maybe even a bit
Speaker 1: more often, depending on the nature of your work, but
Speaker 1: living in your inbox is probably not the way to
Speaker 1: make meaningful progress on the work that matters most. Sure,
Speaker 1: you'll stay busy, but you weren't hired to be busy.
Speaker 1: You are hired to get important things done. I am
Speaker 1: not sure that achieving an empty inbox message indicates that
Speaker 1: this has happened. So if you see a message in
Speaker 1: your inbox that says you're all done for the day,
Speaker 1: don't be fooled. Your job is not to process email.
Speaker 1: I'm guessing it's a lot more exciting than that. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our times. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.