Surf Through Your Email Don't Drowned! Survival Lessons From A Father Who Found 3hrs/Week

Photographic Shout-outs: Thanks to Daniel Flower for sharing his amazing shot on Flickr via Creative Commons.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielflower/377500529/

As a father, I'm always on the prowl for tips that can free up hours from my work week so that I can spend more time with my family. I happened to find a simple email management framework that has literally saved me two to three hours of work each week and I wanted to share it with you.

I unfortunately manage four email accounts and I receive between 85 and 135 emails on any given day.   Regardless of how much email you receive there is a good chance that responding to email is not the highlight of your day and I would wager a bet that you feel like you are drowning in a pool of email and that your Inbox is a mess.  As much as giving up email altogether seemed attractive it wasn't an option for me and I needed help in an urgent way. That's when I discovered Gina Trapani's article on Lifehacker.com called Empty Your Inbox With The Trusted Trio. The simple 'action oriented' folder structure called the "Trusted Trio" worked wonders for me.

The Folders
The three folders  referenced in the Trusted Trio article are:

1. "For_Follow-up": Action is required by me.
2. "For_Archiving": Useful email that is for information purposes that I do not need to take action on
3. "On Hold": Action is required by another person before I can take action myself

Putting the Trusted Trio to action was quite easy.

My 5 Step Approach For Implementing The Trusted Trio:
1. Each day I check my email at defined periods of time so that I can give it the attention it deserves and NO MORE.  

2. After a quick scan of my email I respond to urgent items that I can resolve quickly and I divide my remaining email into one of three folders, as prescribed by the Trusted Trio approach. 

• For_Follow-up
• For_Archiving 
• On Hold

3. During the last 30 to 45 minutes of my workday I respond to any emails that I placed in my "For_Follow-up" folder.  As I respond to these emails I transfer them to my "For_Archiving" folder since I've completed the action item.

4. Each morning I review my "On Hold" folder and write short emails to people who I'm awaiting input from in order to take the action that is required from me.  I really hate having action items looming over me so I tend to manage this folder quite actively.

5. At the end of each week I skim my "For_Archiving" folder and review the contents by quickly scanning the folder.  If I notice that I'm on a mailing list and rarely read the content I 'unsubscribe' from the distribution list.  After that I simple transfer all of my email in this folder to my official "Archive".

So in five short steps, using three Inbox folders, I have conquered my Inbox chaos and was able to leave the office a bit yearly each day.   Gina's Trusted Trio email management approach helped me considerably and if you are struggling with an overflowing Inbox I'd suggest using the Trusted Trio and and tweaking it to suite your own lifestyle.

Enjoy the extra hours that you'll discover in your week if you manage your Inbox instead of it managing you.


dotCommoner

Simply Staggering... We Work An Extra 23 hours per week

(Photographic Shout-outs: Thanks to Geyergus for sharing such a fabulous photo on Flickr via Creative Commons.  Thanks for sharing. http://www.flickr.com/photos/geyergus/6730497483/)

Simply staggering ... "in 1935 the average working man had 40 hours a week free, including Saturday.  By 1990, it was down to 17 hours" (G. Neufeld. Hold On To Your Kids 2004. p. 37).  Think about what you could do with an extra 23 hours per week.  Are we actually evolving?


-dotCommoner

Multiplying The Value Of Money

Source: Thanks to 401K for sharing their pic on
Flickr through the Creative Commons

Cheesy, impractical, and impossible were some of the thoughts that I initially had five years ago when I stumbled across books and blogs about lifestyle design; claiming that you could work less and make more money. I have to admit, I was too quick to judge and I almost wrote off a valuable paradigm that has come to shape many of my decisions and has taught me that lifestyle design is possible.  

Lifestyle design is certainly not a new concept, but it was brought to the forefront in 2007 by author and entrepreneur, Tim Ferris, in his book "The 4-Hour Workweek". His book is essentially the recipe for escaping the traditional 9-5 grind, and helps people live anywhere and join what he calls the 'newly rich'.  Like any worthy author his point of view is provocative, so you either love'm or hate'm.  I have to admit I've read Ferris' book at least twice and refer back to it quite regularly so I guess I'm part of the 'love'm club' and I encourage you to pick up a copy if you even have the slightest interest in exploring the concept and seeing if you could make it work for yourself. 

The Freedom Multiplier Made It Stick For Me

But what convinced me to give lifestyle designing a try? There is one message in particular that resonated with me from Ferris' book that I'd like to share with you as it is central to my belief about lifestyle design and made me get off my butt and start doing something about it (Ferris, T. 4-Hour Workweek 2007. p.24):

"Money is multiplied in value depending on the number of W's that you control in your life: WHAT you do, WHEN you do it, WHERE you do it, and with WHOM you do it.  I call this the 'freedom multiplier' " - Tim Ferris

I define statements like this as 'trigger statements' meaning they make you stop you in your tracks, challenge your norms, force you to make a decision and require you to take action. So could you pull the trigger and multiply the value of your money? 

--the dotCommoner

Look To The Internet To Ease Financial Pressure During A Recession

 

Photo Acknowledgement: Thanks to gerlos for sharing through the Creative Commons.  The original photo can be found on Flick here.

How can an average middle class person make a few extra dollars during the recession and emerge on top?  Focus your line of sight on the Internet.

Reporters, financial advisors, and pundits all seem to preach to the middle class about the fact that we live beyond our means. And yes they are right ... most of us do live beyond our means and this needs to change.  However, what frustrates me is that the advice overwhelmingly stops there.  The pundits' suggestions focus predominetly on cost reduction strategies and neglect the potential income opportunities that still exist despite the state of the economy.  And this is precisely where I would like to pick up the discussion with you as I think everyone deserves a little break from the preaching about cost containment and a chance to talk about opportunities the exist even during the recession.

As my readers know I'm an average, middle class, family guy with a decent career who is doing his best to make ends meet and I'm thankful for what I have. However, like many of you, my salary covers my family's expenses, but I typically lack a surplus of cash that I can stash away into a savings account or pay for some additional nice-to-haves once in awhile.  Like most people, I do crave this 'security cushion' and in the past I have struggled to find ways to address it.   To achieve this, many people look for part-time jobs or start a 'side' business and as much as this is a good approach for some, it is not for me.  Why?  Both approaches take me away from my family so instead I have found ways to leverage the Internet to generate my additional income. Why is the Internet channel my focal point for generating surplus savings?  Well the majority of people on the Internet are consumers of content and not producers of content. The average American spends 32 hours per month surfing the Net and beyond posting Facebook updates and photos on FlickR they spend more time consuming other people's content (words, sounds, images, or videos) than producing their own. Forrester Research points out that about 69% of us are Internet 'Spectators' who sit on the sidelines while only 21% are considered 'Creators'.  Adjusting your Internet behaviour just slightly by shifting your focus from being a Consumer to a Producer can potentially be an effective way to generate additional income during the recession. It's not only potentially lucrative; you can do it on your own time and from any location you choose so it allows people like me to have the family time that I cherish while still increasing my earnings.   There are reams of information on how to make money through the Internet -- a lot of it is useless, but some of it is very helpful.  The focus of this article is not to recommend specific strategies or tactics for making money online; instead it's simply a reminder to my readers that money can be made online and I wanted to share two important principles for those of you who want to try dabbling in this area:

• Become a Producer ... it's fun and rewarding ($) --Adjust your Internet behaviour by about 30% and become more of a Producer than a Consumer and you'll be surprised what can happen. Blogs, newsletters, YouTube channels, podcasts, etc. are all tangible and viable ways for generating additional income from programs like Google Adsense.

• Recognize the value of your social network --Become acutely aware that your social network is a valuable media channel. A sizable and well nurtured social network is a very affordable and attractive channel for companies seeking marketing opportunities. Using your social network and consciously treating it as an appreciating asset is a new paradigm for many. I personally feel that many of us already tweet and Facebook about our experiences with products, services, content, and visits to restaurants so why not let your Paypal account benefit a little by embracing affiliate marketing and sharing your honest opinion about the products that you are already using. My advice to you though is to always disclose the affiliate arrangement and to always stay true to your opinions otherwise affiliate marketing is more like a cheap bribe -- so stay true to yourself if you decide to do this.  Regardless, your social network is an asset and it needs to be nurtured.

So take it for what it's worth ... but if you are trying to get ahead during these challenging economic times it is certainly worthwhile looking at how the Internet can become a source of income for you.

The DotCommoner

Helping the practical, ambitious, middle-class guy or gal get ahead by using the Internet: The DotCommoner Blog is now live.

Photo Acknowledgements: Thanks to rambergmedia.com/ for sharing this photo through Creative Commons.  

The DotCommoner is the practical, ambitious, middle-class Dad or Mom's blog for understanding how the Internet can be used to generate income, make your life easier, and understand the latest developments in the Internet world.  I aim to keep my writing brief as I've come to learn over the years that less is truly best and getting to the point quickly enriches the dialogue in the end.  If you share the same opinion, you may find my postings worthwhile.

I'm treating this blog as an experiment for 6 months and I hope to become a dependable source of relevant information for you. My goal is to produce content every week - hopefully more- but I promise never to write for the sake of pumping out content.  

With that being said ... the DotCommoner is now live.  If you find my content helpful please subscribe to my RSS or email feed and help me reach my goal of developing a Community of 751 people by July 3, 2012 (6 months from my launch).  

-- the DotCommoner