This is Stevea Robbins.

Welcome to the Get It Done guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Are you an email slave?

Oh, I know I was.

I would sit down at my computer, open my inbox, and bam.

My next several hours would be spent taking care of all of the incoming messages.

I'd try to read and reply to every single one,

which means,

if you think about it, that I was being a slave to whoever happened to send an email. I was fulfilling their requests about what they thought was important enough to deal with, and my own

priorities, invisible. After all, I was the only one who wasn't emailing me and demanding my own

attention.

And actually, it gets worse.

The more someone emails you, the more time you'll spend replying to that particular person,

even if they're not the most important person emailing.

Your prompt response just reinforces their tendency to email you more.

Great. Just what you need.

A brand new dependent.

Yippie. Someone who's very courteous, very important,

and only emails you once with a carefully thought out email might even fall through the cracks

because you're so overloaded by the people who aren't that person. You need a way to prioritize

the important stuff, even if it's infrequent, and untangle yourself from the people who use you

as a dumping ground

...