WorkShak

I've noticed that one of the most time-consuming parts of my day — if I let it be — is email. Checking email, and responding immediately once something hits the inbox, can interrupt you as you work, reducing your productivity. And, as a freelance writer, productivity in uninterrupted blocks of time is important to my home business. Here are the two things I found most effective in limiting my email time (and increasing my productivity):

1. Turn off the email notifier. Many email programs come with notifiers that make a noise or pop up a message when something enters your inbox. This represents an immediate distraction. When I turned off my email notifier, I marveled at how much I could get done when I wasn't constantly distracted.

2. Schedule times to check your email. One of the things I do is figure specific times to check my email. For me, it works to check first thing in the morning, before I get started. Then I check again after I've done all of my blog posts. I'll check again when I finish my non-blog writing. Finally, I finish out the day with a quick check. I've also learned to prioritize. Not everything needs to be addressed immediately.

Do you have an tips for limiting the distractions caused by email?