Getting off to a good start, email-free

Lifehacker has a couple good suggestions in a post I linked to from the [non]billable hour.  I think I am going to give it a try tomorrow morning.  One of these suggestions is not to check your email first thing in the morning and to rather do something productive:

Author of Never Check E-mail in the Morning Julie Morgenstern suggests spending the first hour of your workday email-free. Choose one task – even a small one – and tackle it first thing. Accomplishing something out of the gate sets the tone for the rest of your day and guarantees that no matter how many fires you’re tasked with putting out the minute you open your email client, you still can say that you got something done. Once you’re “open for business” and paying attention to incoming requests, it’s too easy to get swept away into the craziness. So get your day started off on the right foot, with just one thing done.

I’ll be honest: I scoffed at Morgenstern’s advice at first, because my work has so much to do with what’s happening in my inbox. However, right now it’s 9:30AM and I haven’t yet checked my email. I’m not sure what’s going on in there, but this article that’s due tomorrow no matter what? It’ll be done.

I have been at my desk for an hour and a half and I haven’t done much more than deal with email and a couple blog posts, never mind that my blog time is scheduled for the afternoon.

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