The average worker today focuses on a task for about three minutes – that’s it. Then, they’re interrupted or they interrupt themselves. Multitasking is a bunch of hooey. You can’t do two things at once, just like you can’t be in two places at the same time. Yes, you can SHIFT from one task to another, but you can’t do two things at once. Alot of folks think they can… And then they give each task less than 100% attention. What does that say for productivity?

Here is a good post with some background research on the whole subject of multitasking:

http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/teachingblog/2010/03/04/multitasking-revisited/

Here is a great blog post with ideas on how to use your email signature to market yourself.  The post is on the blog, IMA Voices.

http://imamerchants.org/blog/3-ways-to-use-your-email-signature-to-market-yourself/

PS. Always include your email address in your e-signature.

The research is overwhelming. Constant e-mail interruptions make you less productive, less creative and–if you’re e-mailing when you’re doing something else–just plain dumb.  Read the full article and cringe…

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/march/204980.html

Excerpt from this interesting post on Goal Progress and Happiness:

Progress on our goals leads to more positive emotions and more satisfaction with life. It increases our well being. In turn, positive emotions contribute to our motivation to act. This is a win-win situation if we can “just get started.”

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/200806/goal-progress-and-happiness

We’re starting a new feature called “Ask Marsha.” So many of you have emailed me with individual questions, many answers which can be helpful to the rest of us.  Here’s the first we’re publishing, from “Roz”

Hi Marsha:

I have a question. Thanks to your wisdom I now have literally dozens of email files in my Outlook and save material appropriately, which is very useful.

My question is, can these files get too large for my computer? I’m at a point at which I have more valuable content saved in Outlook than in the rest of my computer due to the enormous email traffic I get daily. Can Outlook handle all this?

Dear Roz: The answer is YES, definitely. You do need to be cautious about overloading your email system. If you overburden it, you risk crashing the system, and losing everything.

The good news is that the answer may be easier than you think…

Most of the space used in your email is in your attachments. It’s been estimated that 85% of storage space is used up by attachments. Many of these documents have graphics, are lengthy, or are detailed. Additionally, many of them get saved, or sent and resent, so there may be more than one of the same large attachment in your Outlook sent mail.

So, the first place to clear out is your ‘Sent Mail.” This is the ‘low hanging fruit.’ Even if you don’t want to go through all of your Sent Mail, sort by those that have attachments, or by size, and purge the larger files, or save them to your hard drive…

Another best practice is to save the larger files to your hard drive. You can indicate the file name and path (where you store it) on the email. Again, it is relatively easy to find these attachments by sorting by message size or whether they have an attachment.

Other size busters include managing the email you send, to reduce its size:

• Use text instead of html
• Avoid VCards
• Avoid graphics in your autosignature
• Avoid fancy stationery

Let me know what you think, Roz!

There are so many things on our to do lists, that we’ll never get it all done.

While the challenge is to work smarter rather than longer, sometimes it is didfficult to know what that means.

Here is a great post that may enlighten you:

http://www.productivity501.com/doing-less-2/144/

Here’s the press release we made regarding the preliminary results from our new online survey:

Email Productivity Expert Releases Survey Results after 3rd Annual Clean Out Your Inbox Week

READING, PA (FEB. 11, 2010) – Internationally recognized email productivity expert Marsha Egan announces the preliminary findings of her new online assessment designed to measure how effectively email users manage incoming and outgoing email messages. Egan launched the 40-question assessment, adapted from her popular book, Inbox Detox and the Habit of E-mail Excellence (Acanthus 2009), during the 3rd annual Clean Out Your Inbox Week. The results indicate that people aged 55 to 64 have the most efficient email habits.

During Clean Out Your Inbox Week, which occurred January 25-29, 2010, 185 people across the US took Egan’s survey. The results indicate that respondents aged 55-64 have the highest average score of any age group, at 70.64 points out of 100. 45-54 year-olds were the next most productive users, with an average score of 69.25 points, followed by 25-34 year-olds, scoring an average of 69.05 points.

The results further indicate that women, with an average score of 69.43 points, generally have better email habits than men, whose average score is slightly lower at 66.30 points.

Egan’s survey also showed that individuals with graduate degrees, average score of 68.99, exhibited better email habits than respondents at other education levels. Respondents with “Some College” scored 68.83, followed by those with college degrees with an average of 68.29 points. Participants with a High School education or less scored the lowest, with an average of 67.92.

“The overall average individual score from this survey is only 68.64 points. This means that most email users still do not practice healthy email habits. It is so important that we manage our email effectively – both at home and in the office. Good management of your Inbox will save you hours each week and increase your overall productivity significantly. It will reduce the amount of stress in your life and enable you to communicate with greater impact!” comments Egan, CEO of The Egan Group, a consultancy in Reading, PA.

Egan’s survey is free and can be found at www.EganEmailSolutions.com/assessments.html . For more information about Marsha, visit her webpage at www.MarshaEgan.com and for tips that will help you take control of your inbox, search her blog at www.InboxDetox.com.

Here’s a great post by Amber Riviere on how to get more done…

http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/12/10/get-more-done-how-to-move-the-big-rocks/

People complain about the increasing numbers of e-mail messages they receive, how much work it is for them to handle, how often they are misread, and – worse – misinterpreted.  And it is true, the number of e-mails being sent is definitely on the increase.

The reality is there are quite a number of things that you can do, personally, to assure that your messages are read AND understood.  Here are a few tips:

Keep it short. Very Short.  The shorter the e-mail message, the less there is to read, and the more chance the reader will grasp all of your content. I call this “taking the Twitter approach.” Most people skim; don’t give them much to skim.

Be very clear.  By making sure that the content of your e-mails is very understandable, you can avoid people e-mailing you with questions.  Taking a small amount of time on the front end to read through the message you are about to send can go a long way in avoiding a return question.

Place the main point, assignment, or request in the first line of the e-mail message.  By putting your main point in the first sentence, you can avoid misinterpretations and get readers focused on exactly what you want, right from the get-go.People have a tendency to build up to a conclusion when they write; this tendency makes it very difficult, at times, for readers to figure out what the  main issue or request is.  

Make the subject line detailed.  By including detailed information in the subject line, your recipient will immediately be tuned in to the gist of your message.  Additionally, your recipients will be able to sort and respond with the right priority.  The detailed subject line will also help YOU sort and handle responses because you know exactly what the item entails.

Use only one subject per e-mail.  The reality is that most people skim.  If you put two requests in one e-mail, there is a strong likelihood that only one of the requests will be responded to.  It is more effective to send two e-mails with different subjects, than to incorporate two subjects into one e-mail.  This practice is also helpful for people who want to file the messages.

Place only one name in the subject line, if assigning work.  When multiple names are shown in the subject line, the recipients many times assume that is the other person who will handle the work. This is a great way to get nothing done. By assigning one person to the subject line, it is very clear that you are expecting that person to respond.  And, oh by the way, if that person is the wrong person, he or she will tell you very quickly. 

Avoid controversial or argumentative e-mailing.  When you engage in an emotional discussion via e-mail, the e-mails will fly.  And most likely, and get more heated. Emotional issues should never be handled by e-mail; a phone call or person to person handling of the situation is best.

In summary, clarity and brevity are key. E-mail is here to stay; the sooner you develop productive habits regarding its use, the your email messages will be understood the first time, avoiding YOU extra work.