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Did you know?
70% of people check email while watching tv.
50% of people check email when they're in bed.
42% of people check email while in the bathroom.
(Guilty as charged :)
Email has become an addiction.
Just like coffee, drugs, or video games.
Every time the phone "dings" we get a little shot of dopamine. The feel good drug that is released in your pre-frontal cortex.
And you know what?
Over the weekend...
I realized just how addicted I was to email.
Here's how it started...
After reading the "5 Second Rule" by Mel Robbins. (Amazing book by the way.)
I decided to challenge myself to an "Email Detox".
I would only check email ONCE a day.
Right around lunch time.
After all of my most important work was done for the day.
Because you know what happens...
If you check email first thing in the morning.
Someone else's "priority" becomes more important than yours.
You start closing all the open loops.
Because that's what our brain does.
When you check your inbox. See an email from a customer. It then creates an open loop.
You can't fully focus on anything else until you respond.
So here was the challenge...
From 8am to 12pm (lunch time) I would focus on ONE big rock for the day.
The one task that would move our business forward.
This could be writing an email.
Like I'm doing right now :)
Creating a new product.
Writing a sales letter.
Setting up Facebook Ads.
Preparing for a webinar.
Just ONE thing that would grow our business.
And so that's what I did.
I set the timer. Turned off all distractions.
And got to work.
Guess what happened?
The most important work in our business got finished.
I checked (and responded) to email at lunch time.
No one died.
Everyone was taken care of as normal.
But here's the funny part...
On the first day of my "Email Detox" I found myself unconsciously going for the email inbox.
In fact I would click on Gmail without even realizing it!
That's how habitual it had become.
When that happened... I simply closed the window. And got back to work.
But boy was it an eye-opener.
I had NO IDEA how addicted I was to the inbox.
On average, we check our email at least once every hour.
But for entrepreneurs, it's often much more than that.
And you do it without even realizing it.
Think about it... what do you do when you want to take a little break from work?
We go check Facebook. Or Instagram. Or the email inbox.
Because all of these have the factor of "surprise" built in. You never know what you might find.
It's like a slot machine.
And just as addicting.
So I decided to dig a little deeper...
Turns out this is all backed by science.
Gloria Mark, Professor at the University of California has spent years studying the true cost of "task switching".
And here's what she found...
It takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on task... After an interuption.
Multiple studies now confirm this.
So even small interruptions (like checking Facebook and email throughout the day) can waste hours of your time.
Because it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on task. To become truly engaged in what you we're doing before the interruption.
Imagine you're writing an email to your subscribers. And you decide to take a little break and check Facebook.
No harm done right?
WRONG.
Writing requires truly focused attention.
When you come back to the email, you have no idea where you left off. You now have to re-focus on what you were doing.
You'll probably need to re-read the email just to get back into the "groove" and mentally reset your mind.
Then you have to start where you left off and let ideas bubble up again.
Any sort of initial momentum has been broken.
This is why task switching is so detrimental.
And guess what else?
While you were on Facebook or checking email, you created all sorts of open loops in your brain.
So now instead of being able to truly focus on the task at hand.
You're thinking about that email from a customer. You're thinking about the photo you saw on Facebook. Or the latest news item.
All of this is now lingering in your subconscious.
Preventing you from your best work.
So...
What do we actually DO about all this?
What's the solution?
My suggestion:
Take Gmail off of your phone.
Take the Facebook app off of your phone.
Same goes for Instagram. Snapchat.
And all those other time-sucking beasts.
That way you're not tempted to check it at all hours of the day.
Set aside uninterrupted blocks of time.
For me this is a 4-hour block of time from 8am to 12 noon.
I call these my Power Hours.
This is when the most important work in our business gets done. The revenue producing activities.
Writing Emails. Creating new products. Setting up Facebook Ads. Writing a sales letter. Recording a sales video. Optimizing our funnels. Etc...
This way... I have already moved my business forward in some way before lunch time.
And it feels pretty dang good :)
These are the BIG ROCKS that make the difference.
Identify just ONE activity that will move your business forward. Grow your subscriber list. Or generate more sales.
And complete that ONE activity first thing in the morning.
BEFORE you check email. Before you check Facebook.
Before life gets in the way.
This might mean waking up a few hours early to work while everyone else is asleep.
This might mean just going to the library or a quite cafe.
Doesn't matter how you do it.
Just find a place where you can do your best work.
Don't let others steal your dreams.
And remember... this is YOUR responsibility.
No one else's.
No one is responsible for your dreams.
Except you.
And in general... those dreams aren't going to come true if we're checking email, Facebook, and Twitter every 10 minutes.
And believe me - I get it.
It's not easy to break these habits.
I'm conquering them one at a time.
But your dreams are worth it.
70% of people check email while watching tv.
50% of people check email when they're in bed.
42% of people check email while in the bathroom.
(Guilty as charged :)
Email has become an addiction.
Just like coffee, drugs, or video games.
Every time the phone "dings" we get a little shot of dopamine. The feel good drug that is released in your pre-frontal cortex.
And you know what?
Over the weekend...
I realized just how addicted I was to email.
Here's how it started...
After reading the "5 Second Rule" by Mel Robbins. (Amazing book by the way.)
I decided to challenge myself to an "Email Detox".
I would only check email ONCE a day.
Right around lunch time.
After all of my most important work was done for the day.
Because you know what happens...
If you check email first thing in the morning.
Someone else's "priority" becomes more important than yours.
You start closing all the open loops.
Because that's what our brain does.
When you check your inbox. See an email from a customer. It then creates an open loop.
You can't fully focus on anything else until you respond.
So here was the challenge...
From 8am to 12pm (lunch time) I would focus on ONE big rock for the day.
The one task that would move our business forward.
This could be writing an email.
Like I'm doing right now :)
Creating a new product.
Writing a sales letter.
Setting up Facebook Ads.
Preparing for a webinar.
Just ONE thing that would grow our business.
And so that's what I did.
I set the timer. Turned off all distractions.
And got to work.
Guess what happened?
The most important work in our business got finished.
I checked (and responded) to email at lunch time.
No one died.
Everyone was taken care of as normal.
But here's the funny part...
On the first day of my "Email Detox" I found myself unconsciously going for the email inbox.
In fact I would click on Gmail without even realizing it!
That's how habitual it had become.
When that happened... I simply closed the window. And got back to work.
But boy was it an eye-opener.
I had NO IDEA how addicted I was to the inbox.
On average, we check our email at least once every hour.
But for entrepreneurs, it's often much more than that.
And you do it without even realizing it.
Think about it... what do you do when you want to take a little break from work?
We go check Facebook. Or Instagram. Or the email inbox.
Because all of these have the factor of "surprise" built in. You never know what you might find.
It's like a slot machine.
And just as addicting.
So I decided to dig a little deeper...
Turns out this is all backed by science.
Gloria Mark, Professor at the University of California has spent years studying the true cost of "task switching".
And here's what she found...
It takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on task... After an interuption.
Multiple studies now confirm this.
So even small interruptions (like checking Facebook and email throughout the day) can waste hours of your time.
Because it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on task. To become truly engaged in what you we're doing before the interruption.
Imagine you're writing an email to your subscribers. And you decide to take a little break and check Facebook.
No harm done right?
WRONG.
Writing requires truly focused attention.
When you come back to the email, you have no idea where you left off. You now have to re-focus on what you were doing.
You'll probably need to re-read the email just to get back into the "groove" and mentally reset your mind.
Then you have to start where you left off and let ideas bubble up again.
Any sort of initial momentum has been broken.
This is why task switching is so detrimental.
And guess what else?
While you were on Facebook or checking email, you created all sorts of open loops in your brain.
So now instead of being able to truly focus on the task at hand.
You're thinking about that email from a customer. You're thinking about the photo you saw on Facebook. Or the latest news item.
All of this is now lingering in your subconscious.
Preventing you from your best work.
So...
What do we actually DO about all this?
What's the solution?
My suggestion:
Take Gmail off of your phone.
Take the Facebook app off of your phone.
Same goes for Instagram. Snapchat.
And all those other time-sucking beasts.
That way you're not tempted to check it at all hours of the day.
Set aside uninterrupted blocks of time.
For me this is a 4-hour block of time from 8am to 12 noon.
I call these my Power Hours.
This is when the most important work in our business gets done. The revenue producing activities.
Writing Emails. Creating new products. Setting up Facebook Ads. Writing a sales letter. Recording a sales video. Optimizing our funnels. Etc...
This way... I have already moved my business forward in some way before lunch time.
And it feels pretty dang good :)
These are the BIG ROCKS that make the difference.
Identify just ONE activity that will move your business forward. Grow your subscriber list. Or generate more sales.
And complete that ONE activity first thing in the morning.
BEFORE you check email. Before you check Facebook.
Before life gets in the way.
This might mean waking up a few hours early to work while everyone else is asleep.
This might mean just going to the library or a quite cafe.
Doesn't matter how you do it.
Just find a place where you can do your best work.
Don't let others steal your dreams.
And remember... this is YOUR responsibility.
No one else's.
No one is responsible for your dreams.
Except you.
And in general... those dreams aren't going to come true if we're checking email, Facebook, and Twitter every 10 minutes.
And believe me - I get it.
It's not easy to break these habits.
I'm conquering them one at a time.
But your dreams are worth it.
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