No email before 11am

no email before 11am

This is a great concept. I really like it. And before, you panic and go into all the "what if” scenarios, let's remind ourselves that.

This is a great concept. I really like it. And before, you panic and go into all the "what if” scenarios, let's remind ourselves that:

- email is not the only way to communicate

- we do not set our agendas for the day by email

- email is one way to let us know of something, but if it is important and has come up at the last minute then it is not the best tool to share this information

- we have many things to do in a day, email is one of them, not the only task

- we don’t need to live on email 

- nothing much is achieved if our focus is always email

For several years now I have added a signature to the bottom of all my emails. It reads like this:

                      This is a calm inbox: checked once in the AM and once in the PM.

So, I’m stating up from that my email inbox is calm! I don’t live my personal or professional world through my email. Although it is a vital part of my life, I’m not glued to it! I’m also putting it up front that I chunk my time to a dedicated email checking task orientated time -  once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. 

I pop the statement in my formal and casual signature. This reminds all that who have contact me that I enact this and mindfully engage with this communication tool. Like many of us I have much to juggle and I rely on my brain to help me with the creative pursuit of writing or brainstorming new ideas to approach a problem. I do this best in the morning, so If I were to invest time in checking email I know that any energy and clear thoughts I have had will just go. That then helps me prioritise my time and helps me to complete this creative task, that is far more important than administrative email tasks. 

So, I do no email before 11am as a mindful intention to help me manage my schedule and allow my creativity flow. 

What do you do to help yourself with your creative endeavours or compartmentalise your time mindfully to help you achieve what you need to do in a day?