There are NO Messages In Your Inbox

7 Steps to an Empty Inbox

My email Inbox has exactly one email in it as I write this (although I'm sure others will find their way in shortly). If your Inbox has 100, 500 or even more than 1,000 emails, you may think having it cleaned up and cleaned out is only a dream ... a dream to be fulfilled when you say good-bye to email when you retire.

***After you read this post, be sure to visit me at my new                                         home here.***
Not necessarily. Email is a tool to make life and business easier for you, and when used, directed and deleted properly, it can serve to do just that. You have to decide first if email is even the best way for someone to communicate with you, or, if you'd prefer something else!

I personally like email because I can respond anytime, day or night, as my schedule (and mood) allows. Just this past Friday, after a long and somewhat stressful week, I somehow summoned the energy to tackle my Inbox. I am used to having few-to-no emails in my Inbox, but the last couple of months I have let my own system slide, much to my dismay.

Here's what I discovered: email mastery was much easier than I thought, both getting it back in line, and getting everything done that needed doing.

Here is my step-by-step process to give control of your email back to the one who should have it: you!

• Step One: Delete. Mercilessly delete emails that are of no use to you, now or in the future. Delete them all in one, two or three steps by simply checking the emails that need to be deleted and press delete. Doesn't that feel great? You probably just eliminated 50% of your emails. Deep breath. Keep going.
• Step Two: Create a TO DO List as a Non-Negotiable Calendar Appointment. Block out two hours as one two-hour block or two one-hour blocks. As you go through each of the remaining emails, put what needs to be done (return call, answer email, create document, etc.) on your list. Be sure to include phone numbers, websites, or the location of where you filed the email. I use the Notes section of my Calendar Appointment for this list. When the time comes, you'll know exactly what needs to be done, and you'll get it all done in record time.
• Step Three: Create Files and Save. Create files, just like you have in your computer, to save important emails for later reference. Move only the most important emails into those folders, and delete the rest. From time to time, delete an unnecessary files. I have a file for each corporate client, and these: TO READ, TO DO, TO FILE, SAVE, and PENDING. Create the folders that will help you stay organized and find what you need in seconds.
• Step Four: Unsubscribe. If you haven't read the last five ezines from Gardening Today, you probably don't want to read them. As new emails come in to your Inbox, you'll notice them because they don't have a lot of "friends." When appropriate, go to the bottom and click "unsubscribe." If, by chance, you miss getting them, you can always subscribe again later. Alternatively, you can save them into a Gardening Today folder, or even create the aforementioned "TO READ" folder for any downtime you have (does anyone really have downtime anyway)?
• Step Five: Create Rules. You can use keywords or email addresses to automatically sort incoming emails into the folder of your choosing. Emails from clients can go automatically into their folder. You'll see the folder become bold when a new email appears.
• Step Six: Use Auto-Responders. I read email every day right around 4 p.m. That's generally the end of my day, and I can get through them quickly and easily using these tactics. I let people know with my AutoResponder when I'm going to respond to them (90% of the time, anyway), so if they have something urgent, they can text or call me. Guess how often I get a text or a call? You guessed it, not that often. 
• Step Seven: Just as you may use my strategy for pre-scheduling your next week before you wrap up on Fridays, from now on be sure to calendar time each week to clean up and clean out your Inbox so you never find yourself under "email water" ever again.

Remember this: email is a tool. It is meant to be a productivity tool for your benefit. If you feel overwhelmed by email, take the time to put a structure in place that serves you.

~To your success! Honorée

Tall Order! is a book that gets to the point. It helps you pinpoint what is going to get you the results you want, starting right now. Jeffrey Gitomer says, "Don't let the size fool you -- this book is compact dynamite! Buy this book!"

Honorée Enterprises, LLC. turns service providers into rainmakers, average producers into rock-stars, and dreams into reality. For more information on how we can specifically help you or your organization, click here. You can read all about Honorée here.

P is for Perfection

***After you read this post, be sure to visit me at my new home here.***

Perfect doesn't exist. I know, I spent far too many years looking for it, striving for it and pretending I had it.

I had a long conversation today with a close friend and colleague about perfection, happiness and success. She wanted to know how I "do it" and "make it look so easy." While I appreciate that, I thought this post could shed some light on what I do that works for me, and help you discover what might work for you. My readers, clients and followers tend to be "type-A, Mach-1 with their hair on fire" types who are uber-successful and not always happy with the process.

We have learned that we are supposed to be busy (all the time).  We’re supposed to say yes to everyone, be completely frenetic and crazy.  No-one wants to see someone who is calm, collected, and organized because they think they’re a freak of nature.  But that actually is our natural state. It is YOUR natural state. Let me help you get there, starting now:

·       Take a few steps back to make a giant leap forward. You'll do this by getting organized. Whether you're almost there and it just takes a few hours this afternoon to clean out "that last drawer" or several blocked-off days to get every last closet, room and car done, get yourself organized. There are amazing professional organizers who can help you find a place for everything and get everything in it's place.

·       Take control of your mind and body. You'll do this by moving, breathing, listening, learning, and being grateful. If you think you don't have time, you don't not have the time to take care of yourself, learn something new, stop and smell the roses. Do you see the guy down the hall who's got 10 or 20 years on you, he's overweight, divorced and miserable? He might be a little more financially wealthy, but emotionally, physically, spiritually and in his relationships he's bankrupt. I don't want that to be you. You don't want that to be you!

·       Take stock. You'll do this by deciding what you truly want and moving in that direction. Change disciplines or careers entirely, or just finally learn French, or to paint, go to Europe, or put some art on your walls. It doesn't matter: get excited about something you have been wanting to get excited about, and do something, even one small thing, about it. Today.

·       Get focused. You'll do this by stopping all of the minutiae nonsense, time-wasting activities and "stuff" you don't love (or like). If you're a professional, spend your time doing two things: (1) making money* and (2) enjoying the money you make.
*Let your assistant do all of the things you're doing that are she/he could be doing. You should be billing many more of the hours you're working.

Enjoy today. You never know, it could just be your last day.

It's your life and you get to decide -- so decide and get going!

~To your success! Honorée

Tall Order! is a book that gets to the point. It helps you pinpoint what is going to get you the results you want, starting right now. Jeffrey Gitomer says, "Don't let the size fool you -- this book is compact dynamite! Buy this book!"

Honorée Enterprises, LLC. turns service providers into rainmakers, average producers into rock-stars, and dreams into reality. For more information on how we can specifically help you or your organization, click here. You can read all about Honorée here.

T is for Time Maximization

***After you read this post, be sure to visit me at my new home here.***

Time management is a lie. You don't manage your time. You either maximize the time you have, or you don't. Meaning, you either intend the outcomes and decide how your day goes, or the day gets away from you. 

Your day, every day, can feel like you left it all on the floor and got everything done you wanted to, and here's how:

1. Define the most important areas of focus. There are probably three to five, such as: rainmaking, keeping current clients thrilled, staff development, recruiting, executing work product, social media, writing, etc.

2. Define how much time you'll devote to each area, each day. You've got 8-9 (-12) work hours in a day, how are you going to "spend" those hours? Once they're gone, they're gone! If you're a writer, how many hours a day must you write? A tax preparer? You can do double-duty of work-product execution and keeping current clients thrilled by putting your head down and getting that work done. I would add, "on time and under budget" ... and that's another discussion. Spend your work hours as you would spend your dollars - with intention and thoughtfully.

3. Now that you've pre-determined you need to do "X" for "three" hours a day, calendar that as if it were a meeting with your top client. You wouldn't let distractions or interruptions come between you and your top client, would you? Well guess what, ultimately you are your top client!

4. Communicate these blocks of time with your staff and co-workers. You'll definitely have to train those who have desired (and gotten) instant gratification from you in the past. Unavailable right now doesn't mean you won't be available in a short time, it just means you're better at getting things done when you're focused and uninterrupted, so that's what you're doing.

You can use my favorite phrase "I'm on deadline." Throw it around, because people understand it and they respond to it by literally running the other direction or hanging up the phone. The truth is, if you have goals, you're on deadline. It just might not be a looming, hard-stop deadline (in your mind), so you aren't thinking about it non-stop. That, too, is another discussion. Simply said, you are on a deadline to complete your most important professional functions every single day. You will easily achieve your goals when you honor that fact.

Tall Order! is a book that gets to the point. It helps you pinpoint what is going to get you the results you want, starting right now. Jeffrey Gitomer says, "Don't let the size fool you -- this book is compact dynamite! Buy this book!"




Honorée Enterprises, LLC. turns service providers into rainmakers, average producers into rock-stars, and dreams into reality. For more information on how we can specifically help you or your organization, click here. You can read all about Honorée here.