Morning Coffee With Milk and Emails On The Side

Many of us start our day by sitting next to our desk with a big mug of coffee or tea and open our inbox. Working 7 hours ahead of my US east coast counter parts, I know the urge to catch up on what's been happening after I left the office.

Experts agree that workers should not start their day by responding to emails. That's a pretty bombastic statement, but is there anything behind it? While there's lots of books about time management, lately, I've been reading more and more about energy management. Think about it for a minute - our energy levels aren't the same throughout the day and we need to learn our mind and body's own patterns to utilize this for maximum productivity throughout the day. I, like many others, find myself most productive in the morning. So, is this the time I want to spend reacting to emails when I can and should be prioritizing my own to do list?!

By opening my inbox, I open myself up to possible distractions. By starting my day on my own tasks, I can give them my undivided attention while I'm at my sharpest. I don't know if there are any fires, but even if there are, my coworkers have other ways of reaching me. Besides, my US coworkers, who are probably the only ones who've emailed me after I left the office the night before, won't be seeing my responses till late in my afternoon.

My inbox is not my to do list. It's filled with requests from other people. And while these requests are important, they don't necessarily reflect the things I should be doing first. Checking your inbox first thing in the morning is like asking for an excuse to lack direction.

And then there's the ever recurring, "But people expect a response as soon as possible!" First of all, this isn't usually the case. If they've sent an email, as opposed to calling, the request probably isn't as urgent as you think. Second, and more importantly, why are people expecting an immediate response from us? It's probably because we've conditioned them to know that we respond to their emails first thing in the morning and we've built the expectation. But this can and should be changed. And after the first week or two, no one will even notice.

If you absolutely must check emails in the morning, (and here I admit I do), just quickly scan the subjects to see if there's something really urgent that does need immediate attention. 98% of the time, I close my inbox in less than a minute and move onto my own tasks. The other 2% of the time when there is something that needs to be taken care of immediate, I set a time limit and get it done quickly and efficiently so that I can free myself up for my own tasks, usually starting out on my emails after lunch.