Email Overload
Business people are plagued with numerous distractions at work. We deal with email, the internet, phone calls, unexpected meetings, unorganized and cluttered work spaces, changing priorities, annoying cell phones, pagers, PDAs, and constant interruptions. Senior executives and managers report that the biggest distractions are the crisis of the moment and e-mail.
To better manage all of these crazy distractions at work, people are arriving at work earlier, staying later, closing their doors more often, and setting clear boundaries. However, email continues to be a growing problem for just about everyone. The email overload can come from both inside and outside the organization, including customers, colleagues, superiors, family members, lists, and spam. There has been an explosion of e-mail in offices across the country, and not all of it is spam. Answering 50 or 100 e-mails a day — or just wading through them — can disrupt workflow and cost money. Get some real useful tips for managing your email better from Marilyn Paul, Business expert and author of “It’s Hard to Make a Difference when you can’t Find your Keys”.
The real issue is the perception and beliefs that people have. Why do people believe that they “have to” be available 24 hours a day? Why do they “have to” be involved in all the details of every project? Why do we “have to” attend so many meetings?
Reassess the “have to’s” and “should’s” and you may make different decisions!
Fighting Addiction
A newspaper article last month described how, in an ironic role reversal, many professional working parents, when home, are sneaking their Blackberries (or a similar device) into the closet or the bathroom to check e-mail so their children and spouses don’t catch them. These parents are e-mailing while at their kids’ school events and at home during “family time” (including dinner.) In shame they take to hiding their dirty “habit.”
The Blackberry (also unaffectionate called “CrackBerry” because of its sometimes addictive nature) is a hand-held device that provides 24/7 connection to your job. The Blackberries are the workplace cyber tool of the new millennium which enables you to always be in touch with work e-mail and the Internet. It can be both a blessing and a curse.
It can be intrusive and can eliminate any remaining boundaries of work-life balance, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Life is full of choices and any tool can be misused or abused. A shovel is a marvelous invention, but you wouldn’t use it to clear snow off your car’s windshield — or at least not very often. Some employees or managers have addictive or obsessive-compulsive personalities and get hooked on things like this.
So, beware of your possible addiction to these tools and know that you’ve probably gone too far when you take it to bed with you in fear that you might miss something important! Set reasonable limits and boundaries so that it’s a tool to help increase your effectiveness not a device that always needs to be on and ruling your life!
Limit TV
Quite a few of my clients have recently recognized the amount of time they and their family spend viewing TV. They realized that if they avoided turning the TV on in the evening when they got home from work that they’d actually get more accomplished quicker, have more energy, and be able to better relax later on.
The debate about TV watching has gone on for years. Research indicates that American children and adolescents spend 22-28 hours per week viewing television; that’s an average of three to four hours a day! It’s contributing to obesity and other health problems in children as well as socialization issues as they mature. One mom I know set a NO TV rule. She allows her family to watch appropriate movies together but has relegated TV watcing to sick days, snow days, and special programs. By setting this limit when the children are younger, she is creating a healthy habit her children can take into the teen years and adulthood.
Moderate television watching with discretion in program viewing can be somewhat beneficial to school-aged children according to The Research Center for Families and Children. Excessive television watching creates problems for children. Here are some suggestions from the Department of Education:
Set Limits. Know how much TV your child is watching. Set some basic rules such as no television before homework or chores are done or during meals.
Participate. Watch TV with your child and discuss the program. Ask them questions and express your views. This will also let you know what your children are watching.
Monitor. Avoid shows, movies, or video games that have violent or sexual content. Encourage children to watch programs about characters who show cooperation and caring.
Analyze Commercials. Help children to critically evaluate advertisements.
Be a Good Role Model. This suggestion comes from the Parents as Teachers National Center. Because children model behavior, set a good example with your own television viewing habits. Avoid watching programs containing adult content when your child is in the room or nearby.
I’ve noticed how fixated my children (9 & 11) and my husband can become when they’re watching TV. I’ve also noticed how I can get drawn into it when I’m walking by. It’s important to be aware of how TV is contributing to your life or distracting from what you say you really want.
Here’s some ideas to help you and your family cope if you decide to limit or eliminate TV in your home:
1. Be more consciously aware of what you really do want to be doing with your time.
2. Encourage creative entertainment choices. Guide your family to help them develop other options besides TV. Be patient. If you can live through 15-20 minutes of whining, your children WILL find something else to do.
3. Send the kids outside to play.
4. Make a list of all the things you enjoy doing besides watching TV. Keep it visibly posted and refer to it each time you feel the urge to turn on the TV.
5. Use TV time as folding the laundry time.
National TV Turnoff Week is April 24-30 this year. Will you and your family be able to turn your TVs off for the week? And, if so, what will you be doing instead?
I’d love to hear from you about your TV Turnoff challenges and replacement activities. What did turning off the TV provide you with in your Super Busy life? What did the TV provide (i.e. relaxation)? What other ways can you get this?
Yours truly,
Coach Natalie
http://superbusyparent.com
