• Managing Email: The Great American Timesuck-CEO Blog
  Though email was intended to make our lives easier, sometimes it does just the opposite! This article provides a list of suggestions that would be helpful to anyone that feels slightly buried by the mountain of messages lurking in the corners of their inboxes.
• Sharepoint: Managing Access Request Emails-Shankar’s Musings
  At times, programs dealing with email can become slightly confusing because of the convolutions one must go through to work with them. This article offers some helpful advice for those that need a few tips dealing with access request emails.
• Managing Email Quagmires-Geek Girlfriends
  Once we figure out what the problem with email is, (that is, that we are simply buried in unanswered messages), then comes the time to figure out a solution. The author of this article has found a helpful program that assists those in need with managing the many emails that clutter up their in-boxes.
• Managing Email Stress-Nicky Jurd
  Sometimes, though we know what needs to be done on a project, the next course of action can be difficult to discern. The author of this article gives readers 5 helpful tips that allow a person to organize the way he or she deals with large volumes of email.
• 10 Tips for Managing Email Effectively-Tim Berry
  Nearly everyone that deals with email gets an overload of messages at one time or another. Whether that person is a blogger, a businessperson or someone in any other number of occupations that requires the use of online communication. In this article, the author gives ten suggestions to make the lives of the email user easier.
• Managing Email: PC or Online?-Brandie Kajino
  There are so many options for email service providers today that it is sometimes difficult to decide which one to use! In this article, the author explores the pro’s and cons behind using an online service, such as GMail, or a PC account, such as OutLook.
• How to Manage Your Email More Effectively-Bankruptcy Practice Pro
  Though email is supposed to be a time-saver, it can quickly become just the opposite if it is not used in the correct manner. The author of this article explains how to utilize email to the best of its capabilities while avoiding falling into the trap of wasting time.
• Managing Email-Policy and Practical Options-Doug Cornelius
  Email is increasingly becoming a facet of our society that is constantly being integrated into personal lives and the business world, as well. Along with this change comes the adaptations that must be made to coincide with these changes. The author of this article explains some of the difficulties with the retention of important records that are stored in emails.
• Managing Email to GTD-Garrett Woodroof
  Along with the recent GTD movement that has encompassed many workplaces comes the idea of processing emails in a faster, more efficient manner to increase productivity. In this article, the author provides a list of criteria that should indicate whether one’s email filing system needs to be overhauled.
• 10 Tips for Managing Email Effectively-Todd Lohenry
  Eventually there comes a time when an unruly email in-box just simply must be tamed! The author of this article lists several different methods that a person can use to eliminate the stress caused by the clutter and organize things for easier access.

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You’ve probably read the quote from Isaac Newton:

If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.

The idea is that we can leverage the work of people before us in order to do things that wouldn’t be possible on our own.  If you want to create a new type of time-saving computer application, you don’ t have to start with inventing a computer.  You don’t even need to completely understand how a computer works in order to leverage it for your success.

Learning to use the results, accomplishments, and skills of others doesn’t always come naturally.  While you might not be tempted to reinvent the computer, it can be very easy to overlook the input from your friends and co-workers.

Computer programmers are notorious for doing this–opting to create things on their own rather than use components that were made by someone else.  This led to this quote from Alan Cooper:

It has been said that the great scientific disciplines are examples of giants standing on the shoulders of other giants. It has also been said that the software industry is an example of midgets standing on the toes of other midgets.

When I am looking for a camera, I’ll call up my brother who is a photographer and ask him to tell me what he thinks about a particular model.  When I need backup software, I email friends who I know have worked with a bunch of different systems and ask what they recommend.

Your ability to develop and cultivate a network of people with different areas of expertise is crucial in making sure you have access to others who are “giants” in different areas than your own area of expertise. Sometimes, the best way to develop a relationship with people outside normal circles is to offer to help them with an area that you are particularly skilled in.

Make sure you aren’t spending hours that could be replaced with a five minute call to a “giant” friend.  It is a two-way street.  Also, make sure you are always willing to lend some advice to your friends in areas where you may be the “giant”.

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After a difficult surgery, I successfully removed 4 square “Memory” cards from my wife’s MacBook, I have a new piece of advice from people with small children.  Put a piece of tape over your slot load drives.

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Years ago there was a millionaire who was getting old.  He decided he wanted to provide for his heir, but he wanted to protect them from poor investments that would make them lose the fortune he had built up.  He had his lawyer draft his will in a way that would provide for his heirs, but only allow his money to be invested in a reliable, solid industry.  The industry he chose was electric street cars.  Within a generation, his descendants were pumping gasoline at service stations.

The millionaire had good intentions, but he was short-sighted.  His basic failure was that he didn’t expect change.  He correctly assumed that people would always need cheap transportation.  He incorrectly assumed that electric street cars would be around forever.

While much less dramatic than the millionaire example, most people have some story about loss that could have been prevented by expecting change.  In planning for the future, make sure you don’t fall into a trap of assuming that the way things were last year are an indication of the way things will be next.

Originally published on August 21, 2008.

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Here are four folders that I have in my Documents on my hard drive that I’ve found save me time.

Receipts - When I buy something online that I need to keep track of, I’ll print a copy of the receipt page to a PDF and save it in this file. Usually I’ll save it with the date as part of the file name. For example: 20071012-cell-phone-order.pdf. This makes it easy to find records of purchases.

Rebates - Rebates are awful. Basically, companies are betting on the fact that you won’t take the time to fill out the paperwork and send it in. I’ve found if I keep everything in a single location, it makes it a lot easier for me to gather up all the pieces of info I need and it is easier to make sure I get all the checks I’m suppose to. The scanner obviously makes this easier, but the real workhorse is Acrobat Standard. I can use it to fill out the forms and then save them. This works well on most forms, but it isn’t worth the trouble on those forms that have a separate box for each letter.

Backups - I use this directory to keep backups of various things I might need. Granted, my entire computer is backed up as well, but this gives me a place to keep things where I need to do a backup before making a big change. For example, I backup my financial software to this directory before doing global changes that could be difficult to recover from. I also backup my address book to this folder before syncing to a new cell phone or before making large-scale changes.

To File - This is a newer folder for me, but so far it seems to be working well. I created this when I decided to keep all documents out of my top level Documents folder. It now contains only other folders. I still needed a place to put something when I don’t have time to find or create a proper folder for it. The “to file” folder fills this function.

Originally published on January 15, 2007.

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Statistically speaking, you are unlikely to achieve above average success on accident.  Here is a short list of things that seem like common qualities in people who achieve greatness. If you have qualities you’d like to see added to the list, please leave a comment at the bottom of the page.

• Embrace Failure – The lives of the greatest successful people would often seem like horrible failures if you remove their one or two biggest achievements.  Successful people often fail.  While they aren’t intentionally trying to fail, they see it as a path to success. Failure is part of the learning process and is seen as a necessary step toward success.
• Right Place, Right Time – Most great people were in the right place at the right time. While this wasn’t the only factor that contributed to their success, it is important.  Churchill, Lincoln, and Alexander the Great were all in a place where they could be successful. Don’t be afraid to move yourself into places where there are more opportunities.
• Understand Statistics – One in five new businesses fail. Success in business is often the reward of the person who is willing to try 5 or 6 times. If you give up too quickly, you lower the chances of success.
• Long Term View – Most successful people take a long-term view of life. While they are concerned about their progress today and their progress this week, they constantly think about how it fits into their overall vision and lifetime goals.  This helps keep them focused on things of value instead of trivia.

That is a very short list of some of the qualities I’ve noticed in successful people.  What are the qualities you notice in people who are successful?

Originally published on December 17, 2006.

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Education is an investment in the future.  Just like investments have different rates of returns, studying different things will give you different payback. There are generally two types of education available to people after high school.  A technical education prepares you to do specific tasks.  A general education prepares you be able to learn.

Many people don’t understand the difference between these two types of learning.  Going to massage school may seem great in the short term.  It doesn’t take too long to learn and the pay is significantly better than what you can get from a job right after high school.  However, it doesn’t really prepare you for changing jobs in the future.  A liberal arts degree on the other hand, doesn’t usually prepare you to do much of anything in particular, but it prepares you for everything in general.  It takes longer and your starting pay may be lower, but your glass ceiling is much higher.

Many universities and colleges are struggling with this.  Do they teach specific task-oriented skills that will help their students get jobs immediately or do they focus on preparing students for general work in the future?  The schools that seem to be doing the best are combining both of these areas.  Their main focus is still on the traditional education, but they include some technical classes to give their graduates relevant skills for the current marketplace.

When evaluating continuing education opportunities, ask yourself how relevant the training will be in 15 years. That doesn’t mean you should avoid training related to specific technology and trends, but you need to make sure you have a balanced educational diet.  If everything you learn is obsolete in 5 years, you’ll have a lot of catching up to do.  However, if half of what you study is generic enough to last through your entire career, your skills will compound–making you much more attractive to employers in the future.

Originally published on January 12, 2006.

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The concept of being productive is meaningless without a good understanding of your values or what is important to you personally.  Being productive isn’t just a matter of being busy.  It isn’t a matter of doing a lot of things.  Productivity is accomplishing important things.

Many people try to get organized so they can do more, but really they are just trying to fit a bunch more unimportant things into their day.  Until they define what is really important to them, just scheduling a bunch of tasks won’t help them really accomplish more.

Sometimes being productive doesn’t mean doing more.  In fact, sometimes it can mean doing fewer tasks each day.  When these tasks are carefully chosen to align with your values, they can have a much bigger impact on your overall accomplishments.

For example, lets say one of my values is life long learning and one of the areas I want to learn about is economics.  Here are a list of tasks that might help me accomplish this:

1. Spend one hour per day browsing the web for information about economics.
2. Read two books per month on economics written by established economics professors.
3. Sign up for an internet based class on economics.
4. Sign up for a night class at the local university.

All of these are good things toward my goal, but trying to do all of them would be less effective than picking one.  The “right” one is the one that best meets my needs.  The first task probably isn’t going to be the most effective way to learn.  The third and fourth tasks are good ideas, but might not fit into the time I have available.  The second task might not work if I don’t learn very well from reading.

The point is to choose the best option that maximizes my time investment and do that task well.  By focusing, I’ll have more time to spend on the other areas of my life.  Carefully deciding what to do can
mean doing less, but accomplishing more. But this is only possible if you first decide what is really important to you.

Originally posted on December 3, 2005.

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Take the time to do something hard.  Take the time to do something new. Your biggest surges of growth will come from stretching yourself.  You can stretch yourself in small ways by trying a new type of food, talking with a stranger, or watching a movie that is different than your norm.  You can stretch yourself in big ways by quitting your job and going into business for yourself.

Regardless of how you go about it, you will grow more by stretching yourself on a consistent basis than by reading every self-help book you can find.  When you are looking for things to stretch your capabilities, here are a few things to keep in mind.

• What are the risks?  You need to understand the impact of failure.  If you plan to quit your job and start an antique furniture store, you need to make sure you understand your financial position and
  what will happen if you are unable to make the store a success. Sometimes understanding the risk will  make it easier to try something difficult.  For example, say you are looking at signing up
  for a particularly challenging college class–not toward a degree, but just as a way to stretch yourself.  If you recognize that your failure in the class won’t have any impact on your work, your status, or anything else, it is a lot easier to take the risk and learn from the results no matter how it turns out.
• Do Something New. You want to put yourself in situations where you haven’t been before. Doing harder versions of things you’ve already accomplished will help you grow some, but not on the same scale as throwing yourself into something new and unfamiliar.
• Start Small. Concentrate on doing things to grow–not necessarily the biggest thing possible. You can grow from putting yourself in new circumstances that have very little risk and simply offer you
  a new perspective or view point. You will be learning about yourself and many small steps can be just as beneficial as a large one.

Here are a few things that you can consider as a way to stretch yourself and grow. Some are so small they seem trivial.  Depending on your personality some of them may be things you already do, in which case they may not be good stretch exercises for you.

• Visit a house of worship different than where you regularly attend.
• Get into a conversation with someone you would normally avoid.
• Take a different form of transportation than normal to work.
  Ride a bike, walk, take a taxi, take the subway–just something
  different than what you’ve done before.
• Take a college class on a subject where you have an interest but no expertise.
• Read a book about something you know nothing about.
• Go to a social event where everyone is twice or half your age.
• Visit a museum on a subject that you know nothing about.
• Participate in an online discussion about a new topic.
• Learn to play a new game.
• Go to a concert of a different style of music than what you normally listen to.
• Use a different operating system than normal.
• Take the ACT, SAT, or GRE just for fun to see how you do.
• Watch a sport you don’t understand.

None of these items are particularly challenging, but if it is something new for you, it will help you grow on many different levels. We grow by doing things that are difficult and unfamiliar.  By making an intentional effort to continually experience things that are new and different, we can improve and expand our capabilities well beyond the average person.

Originally published December 7, 2006.

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I have noticed the most important people have a very clear desk.  This also tends to be the case for people with much less important jobs.  To illustrate, I’ve created a graph.

I’m sure this isn’t true across the board, but it does seem to be at least partially true.  How clear are the desks of the most important three people at your organization?  Here are a few reasons that paper seems to go down as importance goes up:

• The top person can always give his paper to someone else, so it pushes the paper down toward people of mid level importance.
• The mid-level people will only push the paper down so far, themselves, because it is their neck on the line if something gets messed up.
• The top person has more freedom to define what is important and work on just those things.  They can avoid trivial matters.
• Top people have someone else to help manage and file the paper.  They also don’t have others dumping stuff on their desk.

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