Comments on: Why Checking Email Doesn’t Work

By: sandrar

sandrar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:45:57 +0000

Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.

By: Andre

Andre — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:31:59 +0000

When I wrote it in my head, I had 50 messages in mind, taking 100 minutes max. It’s a good thing I’m not an accountant.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:09:53 +0000

“Let’s look at the highly unlikely worst-case scenario. Batch processing an inbox of 100 messages, if the Two Minute Rule is strictly followed, would take a maximum of 50 minutes. “

Shouldn’t this be 200 minutes (100 * 2) ?

By: Andre

Andre — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:37:29 +0000

“If, after two minutes, the point of the email is still vague but seems actionable, file it in @Action write make reading the email a next action on your @Computer list.”

You could just put everything that takes longer than two minutes to read in the @Action folder without assigning specific next actions to them, but this breeds a habit of checking email rather than processing it.

You might just want to move it to the @Action folder without separately writing down the next action to read it. But if it really is a vague email, I find that having the specific action trigger helps remind me that this email needs addition attention.

The main point, though, is that you don’t want to get caught up in any one email during processing time. If the fourth message you get is vague, and takes a long time to read, you risk not processing all of the messages that follow. Once all of the messages in your inbox are processed, you have a much better idea of which ones are actually priorities. Then you can take whatever time is necessary to read the longer email without wondering if you’re missing something.

By: Helge Stenström

Helge Stenström — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 08:14:22 +0000

What if the e-mail is long, and takes more than two minutes to read? It might require a lot of thinking simply to determine if any action is needed.

By: Andre

Andre — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:24:07 +0000

I never check email, but you’re right: it’s a good idea to start the morning on your own agenda. Knocking off at least one high-impact task gives you momentum for the rest of the day.

By: DanGTD

DanGTD — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:29:50 +0000

Nice analysis.

I follow the principle of not checking email first thing in the morning.

The biggest reason not to do so, is that it means you are starting your day on another’s people agenda, and not your own.