« David Allen gives the keys to GTD on YouTube | Main | Balancing proactive vs. reactive »
January 14, 2008
How much do you value your attention?
I was doing a class recently and suggested to the group, as I often do, to resist the urge to 'reply to all' on emails. In my opinion, that's one of those seemingly innocent things that is a huge contributor to email volume. I'm not saying that replying to everyone is never appropriate, but somehow when it's on email there seems to be a greater freedom for over-communicating and looping everyone in on random bits of information, whether it's relevant for them or not. Hey, it's just an email right? They can always delete it, or so the thinking goes. It works both ways though. I bet if you assessed the kind of emails you get, there are some that you are allowing in that you don't need, or even want.
Working for David Allen, our team is vigilant about who gets copied on emails. I wouldn't think of copying David on a 'thanks', 'got it' or any other email that I know isn't worth his attention. I value his time too much and I know he processes everything he gets. It helps that he lets us know the kind of things he wants to get and not get so we're not trying to guess or hold back on something that actually could be valuable to him. He does the same in return for us. About twice a year he'll send an email out to all staff giving us the choice to opt in or out of particular kinds of emails that he sends.
Consider that every piece of input you allow in will require your time and attention. Every email. Every phone call. Every conversation. Every piece of mail. Input in = time and attention out. Take some time to assess what's coming in for you. Can you let go anything? Any updating that needs to be done letting others know what not to send you? Anyone to ask about what you send them?
Here's an easy place to start--email newsletters. Opt out of every email newsletter you don't read. Even the nice to read and might get to's. Even the ones you just have filtered to a folder. If you're not reading them, why have them even tug on your attention?
Posted by Kelly at January 14, 2008 11:11 AM
Comments
Great advice Kelly. I work at a large Fortune 50 company where I'm very thankful that most people follow these rules. It helps us stay efficient. I never realized how few people implicitly follow those rules until I joined a non-profit board and received loads of emails that don't matter to me at all.
Posted by: Joe S at January 15, 2008 07:16 AM
