Comments on: Less-Email–an update at two weeks http://www.technotheory.com/2007/05/less-email-an-update-at-two-weeks/ Time-saving reflections on lifehacking, social media, and technology. Mon, 30 Dec 2013 18:20:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 By: Technotheory.com - Dreamline worksheet: a follow up to the Four Hour Workweek http://www.technotheory.com/2007/05/less-email-an-update-at-two-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-2864 Technotheory.com - Dreamline worksheet: a follow up to the Four Hour Workweek Tue, 19 Jun 2007 01:17:04 +0000 http://www.technotheory.com/2007/05/less-email-an-update-at-two-weeks/#comment-2864 [...] As I previously wrote (1 2), I’m a big fan of Timothy Ferriss’ Four Hour Workweek approach. Just a few chapters in he mentions what he calls a Dreamline, which is a chart designed to calculate how approachable and within reach your ideal lifestyle is, in terms of finances and time. On the book’s website there were online calculators for filling out the Dreamline, but I didn’t find them to be as helpful as I’d like…so I’ve come up with my own. [...] [...] As I previously wrote (1 2), I’m a big fan of Timothy Ferriss’ Four Hour Workweek approach. Just a few chapters in he mentions what he calls a Dreamline, which is a chart designed to calculate how approachable and within reach your ideal lifestyle is, in terms of finances and time. On the book’s website there were online calculators for filling out the Dreamline, but I didn’t find them to be as helpful as I’d like…so I’ve come up with my own. [...]

]]> By: Jared Goralnick http://www.technotheory.com/2007/05/less-email-an-update-at-two-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-2219 Jared Goralnick Tue, 22 May 2007 18:26:04 +0000 http://www.technotheory.com/2007/05/less-email-an-update-at-two-weeks/#comment-2219 You're right, Kira, and given our conversations about this it's clear that you have a very different relationship with your coworkers than I do. You're also right that things will come up that are more important. And, to some degree, that's good to know about them sooner. The catch though is just <i>how important</i> is <i>really important</i>? The message in Tim's book is that really important stuff is rarely that important. And this is a moot point that we could debate ad infinitum, but that's my one tidbit to share here. You’re right, Kira, and given our conversations about this it’s clear that you have a very different relationship with your coworkers than I do.

You’re also right that things will come up that are more important. And, to some degree, that’s good to know about them sooner. The catch though is just how important is really important?

The message in Tim’s book is that really important stuff is rarely that important. And this is a moot point that we could debate ad infinitum, but that’s my one tidbit to share here.

]]> By: kira http://www.technotheory.com/2007/05/less-email-an-update-at-two-weeks/comment-page-1/#comment-2218 kira Tue, 22 May 2007 18:10:09 +0000 http://www.technotheory.com/2007/05/less-email-an-update-at-two-weeks/#comment-2218 As we talked about last week, not every job can be done while you're offline for half the day. And not every day is the same on every job. So over the last two weeks I've tried to be mindful of the spirit of the tip -- the classic time-management exhortation to not let other people set your priorities. It's been helpful for me, though not revolutionary. So I'm back to the Franklin system of having time blocked off to work on a specific project. During that time, I resist the urge to check mail every five minutes, and only do so when it doesn't interrupt my train of thought too much. When I do check email, I scan for urgent things and not let myself get caught up in anything that can wait. But sometimes an item comes through that is genuinely more important than the project I've slotted the time to. And if it does, then answering the email is the right thing to do. As we talked about last week, not every job can be done while you’re offline for half the day. And not every day is the same on every job.

So over the last two weeks I’ve tried to be mindful of the spirit of the tip — the classic time-management exhortation to not let other people set your priorities. It’s been helpful for me, though not revolutionary.

So I’m back to the Franklin system of having time blocked off to work on a specific project. During that time, I resist the urge to check mail every five minutes, and only do so when it doesn’t interrupt my train of thought too much.

When I do check email, I scan for urgent things and not let myself get caught up in anything that can wait. But sometimes an item comes through that is genuinely more important than the project I’ve slotted the time to. And if it does, then answering the email is the right thing to do.

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