In the beginning it’s tempting to check your email all day long, especially in the morning after you’ve been offline for eight or ten hours – Maybe you finally made a sale or one of your readers tried to contact you. Eventually, though, you’re going to be bombarded with email and all that checking can eat into your productivity, especially if you check your email inbox as soon as you sit down at your computer. Here are three reasons you don’t want to check your email account first thing in the morning.
You Already Have Your Own To-Do List
The last thing I do every day is make myself a list of things I need to do tomorrow so when I sit down at my desk I immediately know what needs to be done. If you check your email first, then you’re going to find new things you want to add to that list, things that someone else wants you to do, things someone else has on their To-Do list. Now, you’re going to have to take time to re-prioritize your list and possibly even move important tasks to another day.
In other words, it’s a time-waster. You already have your day mapped out and we both know the best way to reach any destination is to follow the map. When you answer your email first thing in the morning you’re allowing other people to put up detours. Check your email at the end of the day and add those action items to your list of things to do tomorrow.
You’re Delaying The Inevitable
Trust me, I know there are days when you just don’t feel like getting started. In the end though, it’s just like going to the gym. Nobody likes to roll out of bed and head out the door first thing in the morning, but once you get to the gym and start your workout you can’t imagine why you were so reluctant to get started. It’s another beautiful day!
If you find yourself checking your email first thing every morning, stop it. You’re just delaying the inevitable. You have to write that blog post today whether you feel like it or not. And by checking your email first you’re just distracting yourself and wasting energy. By the time you get done checking email you’re going to feel even less like working today.
If You Check Your Email In The Morning, Your Reply Will Be Less Effective
When you sit down at your computer in the morning you already know you have a lot of things you need to accomplish and there are only so many hours in a day. If the first thing you do is check your email then you’re going to have more things to do and that’s going to cause a certain amount of stress. You’ve already mapped out your day and now this person wants what?! So you hurry and rip off a reply because you have other things to do.
If you’re like me you spend the day with that answer burning away at the back of your mind. “I should have said…” and “I wonder if…” or “Maybe I should…” start playing in your head like earworms and soon you’re … checking your email again, wasting even more time and causing additional stress.
Check your email at the end of the day and put answering on your list of things to do tomorrow. That gives you time to come up with the best effective answer so you can carry on with your day.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!