• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Submissions
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Aug 13, 2022
  • Startup
    • Creating a Plan
    • Funding a Startup
    • Franchise Center
    • Getting Your Office Ready
    • Making Your Business Official
    • Marketing Your New Business
    • Personal Readiness
  • Run & Grow
    • Customer Service
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Legal
    • Operations
    • Risk Management
  • Leadership
    • Best Practices
    • Communication
    • Green Initiatives
    • Open Culture
    • Strategic Planning
    • People Skills
  • Sales & Marketing
    • Advertising and Lead Generation
    • Marketing Innovations
    • Marketing Plans
    • Online Marketing
    • Relationships
    • Sales Activities
  • Finance
    • Budgeting and Personal Finance
    • Payments and Collections
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Pricing Strategy
    • Working with Investors
    • Working with Lenders
  • Tech
    • eCommerce
    • Hardware
    • Software
    • Security
    • Tech Reviews
    • Telecom
  • Shop

SmallBizClub

Helping You Succeed

Home / Leadership / Best Practices / Learn to Never Handle a Paper or Email Twice
Learn to Never Handle a Paper or Email Twice

Learn to Never Handle a Paper or Email Twice

887 Views

Jul 12, 2018 By Dave Berkus

We all do it… to our own detriment. So, let’s make a pact that we will try, if not succeed, to handle our incoming messages more efficiently.

Personal time management helps immensely to make a better manager of you and me. All of us have time management tips and tricks to help us get through the day. I have a mantra I try to live by, and it has helped me more than you know over the years. “Never handle a paper or email twice” may be extended to include reading and acting upon other forms of messages, and any written distraction.

Fight your human nature…

It is human nature to filter through the stack or inbox, looking for the important items. And that certainly has defensible merits. But to find what is important, we usually must at least scan a document or email, engaged for no less than a short moment and perhaps for the full reading of the document before moving on to look for important issues to resolve.

… by not doing the common things.

But there is good research to back up the statement that returning to a reading from a distraction causes the reader to lose up to 20% of his or her time in getting back to speed in mentally processing the document and its issues.

My “never twice” rule

By trying my best to adhere to the “never twice” rule, I quickly delete most copy-all emails not addressed to me, and all junk, but handle each personally addressed email as it opens in the reading pane. The exception is an email with an attachment that appears long and involved, such as an executive summary of a business plan. Those get shuffled into a separate inbox for later review, without exception.

Speed with efficiency?

Using this policy, I get through my several hundred non-spam emails each day faster than I used to, and with more focus upon those with response required than if reading and returning to the issue later, especially if not in the same sitting. Of course, exempt emails from your superior and those legitimately marked as urgent, both of which should be either directed to a special handling inbox or immediately culled out from the rest.

Wouldn’t you like to regain some percentage of your time with little or no effort? Try this one.

Filed Under: Best Practices Tagged With: Best Practices, Establishing Priorities, Time Management

Source: Berkonomics

Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus

Dave Berkus is a noted speaker, author and early stage private equity investor. He is acknowledged as one of the most active angel investors in the country, having made and actively participated in over 87 technology investments during the past decade. He currently manages two angel VC funds (Berkus Technology Ventures, LLC and Kodiak Ventures, L.P.) Dave is past Chairman of the Tech Coast Angels, one of the largest angel networks in the United States. Dave is author of “Basic Berkonomics,” “Berkonomics,” “Advanced Berkonomics,” “Extending the Runway,” and the Small Business Success Collection. Find out more at Berkus.com or contact Dave at dberkus@berkus.com

Related Posts

  • How to Make Life Easier for Your Frontline Teams
  • 7 Carrier Onboarding Best Practices To Follow
  • Give Your People The Chance To Do Their Jobs!

Primary Sidebar

Random

Why and How to Align Your Team Through Brand Values

Aug 11, 2022 By Luke Britton

Why Businesses Should Treat Employee Burnout as a Risk Management Issue

Aug 11, 2022 By Andrew Deen

From Beat Cop to Entrepreneur: A Unique Startup Story

Aug 10, 2022 By SmallBizClub

a-startup-goldmine--combining-healthcare-and-technology

‍9 Tips for Making Your Healthcare Business More Successful

Aug 9, 2022 By Charlotte Sylvester

employment-practices-liability

‍5 Business Liabilities That Can Cause You A Ton Of Trouble

Aug 9, 2022 By Jeremy Bowler

Footer

About Us

Small Biz Club is the premier destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs. To succeed in business, you have to constantly learn about new things, evaluate what you’re doing, and look for ways to improve—that’s what we’re here to help you do.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 by Tarkenton Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms | Privacy