Never Dainty

1. Don't check your email every minute. I think most people would agree that your time is wasted hugely on the fact that you respond almost immediately as soon as something new comes in. If you've worked with email clients, such as Outlook or Thunderbird - like I do at home, then make sure the alert is turned off. It is best to check emails in intervals. To be honest, I check my emails hourly or every two hours.
2. Apply filters. Gmail has this feature which allows you to automatically archive emails and put labels in them. Since my email serves as the command center, I have already set filters into my emails. That way, I can set time as to when I deal with emails that come for which ones. That way, I can easily focus my time into one set of emails - like those that are work related, forwarded, from my mother, from online opps.
3. Take care of each email right away. I am not going back on #1, what I mean to say is that you take care of each email as soon as you've read it. Decide what you do with it: delete, archive, forward-archive, forward-delete, reply-archive, reply-delete.
4. Is it important that you have to read it for information? If so, I recommend you Star it then Archive, or file it away to a folder/label called "Readables" then Archive it, as soon as you have dealt with it, remove the label and you're good. Or you could print it out and have it as a reading material when doing something outside cyberspace.
5. Does the email contain things that you need to do in the future? Take note of the things and details and mark them down in your calendar, to-do list, or somewhere else. Archive email after taking notes.
6. One location. In essence, I have just one folder, and it is Archive. The Inbox simply acts like some kind of waiting room where emails wait to be executed. I merely add labels to make me get organized more. If I ever need something, there's always the search option which has not failed me yet.

Labels: email, getting things done, how to, improvement, Monday Hacks, productivity, time management, tips, work, work at home

Labels: Monday Hacks, multitasking, productivity, time management, work, work at home

• - Helps financially. Cuts on the expenses of having to spend for fare, and food would be centralized, so less expenses there, too.
• - Good for parents. Moms, like myself, would not be so far from their children, and some housework would not go unnoticed.
• - Own schedule. No longer trying to fit everything else into the fixed schedule of work. But this does not mean I would not have a fixed schedule. It just means you can be the master of your time. Not be a slave to it.
• - Freedom for other things. Although it is still work, nobody will actually kill you for surfing or taking a break. And trips to the loo would not be so restrained. :D
• - Health reasons. Home is where comfort is. Sometimes being in a office can make you more sickly whether you like it or not.
• - More moneytizing opportunities. Working at home allows you to dabble in other part-time jobs and the like.

• - Unstable. Working at home is sometimes not too stable. As I've said, I have been burned one too many times online.
• - Possible payment comes late. Sometimes payment comes late, or perhaps never. Yes, I've been there too.
• - No social life. If you are used to working in front of a box, then this might not be much of a problem. But if you are like a lot of people who need the presence of others a lot, then this might not be the thing for you.
• - Family life might not get accustomed to you working at home. In some situations, it is believed that the home is just for family time and not for working. So some family members might find it hard to adjust to the fact that you have to work instead of bonding with them.

Labels: improvement, jobs, opinion, schedule, work, work at home