The 4-Hour Work Week: Check Email Twice a Day

So I'm not completely done with The 4-Hour Work Week yet, but readers of this blog seem to enjoy the posts about it, so I'm going to keep reflecting on the book as I go along. I hope you'll offer your thoughts, too!

I took Timothy Ferriss' advice today and checked email twice - once around noon and once at 4pm. (He eventually suggests knocking this down to once a day, then once a week. Being in a service-based business, I really couldn't drop down to less than once a day as I invite my clients to email me for support and accountability.)

My email Inbox sometimes feels like the bane of my existence. I'm anal about two things in life: 1) brushing my teeth before bed  2) not allowing email to accumulate in my Inbox. I keep only unanswered emails and those requiring action in my Inbox. I file all other emails in folders. I love nothing more than an empty Inbox...but it rarely happens. 

Even with spamarrest and non-published email addresses, spam still gets through. I'm also on a few "discussion" lists in my industry (mostly to stay on top of developments) and I get Google Alerts to keep me posted on ADD in the news. Then there are client, staff, and vendor emails. Sometimes it seems like I spend all day trying to catch up with email.

Today, however, I took Tim's advice and shut down email. I checked it twice and, to my amazement, it took only about 30 minutes total to respond to the emails. I did it quickly and efficiently, then closed it up again.

I took the power away from Inbox, and I won!

Now, did I have to read The 4-Hour Work Week in order to know that this strategy works? No, of course not. As an adult with ADD, I know how easily distracted I am by new email messages. I know that if I want to get work done then I need to close down Outlook sometimes.

But reading The 4-Hour Work Week has given me permission to close down email all the time, not just when I'm in the middle of something.

I like it.

Have you tried this strategy yet? How's it working for you? If not, what's stopping you? Please share in the comments field.

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