"Your Email Inbox is a convenient organizing system for other people's priorities." - Brendon
Burchard
As I wrote in Monday's email, most people start their day by checking their email. They want to see what other people have sent them.
This desire is hard-wired into our nervous system because each email or message sets off the same chemicals in our nervous system that bring pleasure. It is why you have to fight the urge to check your phone every time it makes a noise.
However, it is a horrible way to run a life or a business.
That is why you should NOT check your email first thing in the morning.
Of course, that may seem like a counter-productive message for me to tell you since I want you to read MY emails, but it is the truth.
When you check your email, you switch from being
proactive to be being reactive. You feel the need to react to all the messages people have sent you. You are no longer spending your time doing the tasks important to you; you are doing what is important for the people who sent you the email.
If you want to make progress towards your goals, then you need to spend your time doing the tasks that move those goals forward. For most people, checking
email first thing in the day sets them on the wrong path.
Instead of being an email victim, set a rule to follow. No email until you have completed some other important task that you had set as a priority for today. You can also
set a general rule, like no email before noon, to make sure that you spend the productive time in the morning on the other tasks that are more important to your business.
Don't let email side-track you from what is truly important. Allocate time later in the day to deal with other people's priorities, once yours are complete.
