Now my coach has been on at me for a long time to only deal with email on 2 days a week.  But somehow that has not felt like the ‘quality of service’ I want to deliver.  So I have resisted.  Even after attending a work productivity seminar last year that clearly demonstrated that multi-tasking and jumping between tasks means that every task you are trying to do takes longer.  I still resisted!!! To find out about this workshop check out Prodsol.co.nz.

In this article I am talking about business email, not personal – but sometimes there is an overlap.  In my research I read a blog by Peter Bregman that helped me to realise that I use email to distract myself when I am feeling stuck, when I’m unsure about my next move, when I have not planned what I want to achieve that day, or when I feel lonely.  I also use it to be ‘busy’.  Why do I use it to be busy?  Interesting.  I think it is because in my world view ‘being busy’ is a justification for not doing something else – something I may be stuck on or what sure about or that may simply put me outside my comfort zone, so I check email and that is usually easy.

What makes email so compelling is that it is easy, and it looks like work so I can trick myself into believing that it work because I am delivering quality service to my clients and prospects!

But what I realise is that it actually adds to my ‘busyness’ and not to my productivity.  It also sets unrealistic expectations about my availability.  I am not available to everyone all day every day.

It also feels legitimate, even responsible. I’m working. I need to make sure I don’t miss an important message or fail to respond in a timely fashion.

But it’s become a serious problem. When I don’t control my email habit, I am controlled by it. I’m not managing my time, it’s out of control.  Everyone I know complains about email overload.

Email pours in, with no break to its flow. And like addicts, we check it incessantly, drawing ourselves away from meetings, conversations, personal time, or whatever is right in front of us.

But it’s not just the overload of email that’s our problem — it’s the inefficiency in how we deal with it. Each time we check our email whether at our computers or on the fly, we lose time pulling out our phones, loading the email, reading new emails without taking action on them, and re-reading those to which we haven’t yet responded. Then, back at our computers, we re-read them again.

Finally though it’s rattling us. According to USA Today the number of lawsuits filed by employees claiming unfair overtime is up 32% since 2008. The major reason for the increase? Email on devices like smartphones is intruding on our personal time.

The solution, I believe, is hidden in my post-vacation email experience.

Instead of checking email continuously and from multiple devices, schedule specific email time during the day while you are at your computer. All other time is email vacation time.

We are most efficient when we answer email in bulk at our computers. We move faster, can access files when we need them, and link more quickly and easily to other programs like our calendars. Also, when we sit down for the express purpose of doing emails, we have our email heads on. We are more focused, more driven, wasting no time in transition from one activity to another.

I have now decided to bulk process my email twice times a day in 30-minute increments, once mid-day, and once before shutting down my computer for the day.  That means that it is usually only ½ a working day before someone gets a response, unless I’m away or at meetings.

Outside my designated email times I don’t access my email — from any device — until my next scheduled email session.   A tip recently shared with me by Helen Corban of Reach Potential (www.reachpotential.co.nz ) is to have Outlook tuned to calendar and to turn off all beeps, warnings, notices of new mail.  That has made a huge difference.  I don’t access email on my phone.

Another tip that helped is to schedule email for midday NOT first thing in the morning.

When the urge to check arises — and it arises often — I take a deep breath and feel whatever feelings come up. And then I focus on whatever I’m doing, even if what I’m doing is waiting. I let my mind relax.

Here’s what I’ve found so far: I don’t miss a thing.

In fact, it’s the opposite. I gain presence throughout my day. I am focused on what’s around me in the moment, without distraction. I listen more attentively, notice people’s subtle reactions I would otherwise overlook, and I’m more productive, more sensitive, more creative, and happier.

I’m also going through my email faster and with more attention than before. I don’t make those I’m-moving-too-fast mistakes like copying the wrong person or sending an email before finishing it or saying something hurtful. So I’m also more efficient.

But what if someone needs an immediate response? Worrying about that is precisely the kind of misguided rationalization that reinforces our addiction. I haven’t angered anyone with my new process. In fact, I don’t think anyone has noticed my mini email vacations because responding to an email within a few hours is perfectly reasonable. And, in the off chance that they need a response within minutes, they’ll find another way to reach me, either by texting or calling.

Email is no longer an overwhelming burden to me. I’m spending an hour and a half a day on it, which for me still seems a lot, and maybe I’ll be able to cut it down further.

You may need more or less time per day depending on what expectation you have set with yoru customers, staff, clients,  or work colleagues.  Experiment and then schedule the appropriate time slots.

Of course if you are in customer service then it is a different matter.  It’s your job to be answering emails as quickly and efficiently as you can.  In this case you might consider setting up an automatic response giving people an immediate response and an idea of how long they might need to wait to get a full response from you.

If you’re wondering what level of response time is appropriate for you – you could ask your customers and see what they think is right, what level of service they believe they are paying for.  It’s possible of course that what they think they are paying for and what you are willing to provide is a bit out of whack.  In that case renegotiating service levels might be required – or maybe they just need to be clarified.

I’ve found the hardest part is resisting the temptation to check during my off-email hours and I sometimes still do email work in the evening – but I’m working on that.  It’s difficult to change a habit.   So I’m working on when I have the urge to check email, I check in with myself instead. What’s going on? What am I feeling? Then take a deep breath and relax into an undistracted moment.  A really present moment.

That’s an assumption I am making when writing this blog.  But have you defined what success looks and feels like for you?  Ignoring society’s assumptions about success, do you know what you are aiming for?  Will you know when to stop? Are you able to distinguish and recognise your real wealth?

You may recall that I’ve been away most of April.  One of the reasons for my journey was to research sustainable living.  I had the privilege of visiting two communities in Ecuador who define their success and wealth very clearly.  The first I visited is San Clemente, an indigenous-owned community-based project situated on the flanks of the sacred Imbabura volcano.

Laura with sons Edwardo and Giovanni in front of the house they built

This community has chosen to re-learn and retain traditional skills, agricultural practices, cultural activities and even dress.  They farm their rich lands organically, feeding the community largely by their own effort.  They follow an ancient agrarian calendar which determines planting, harvesting and celebrations.  In this community clear purpose, peace, harmony and beauty suffuse all activities.  Success here is defined as:  A healthy ecology, living an uncomplicated simple life close to family members where everyone is engaged in meaningful contribution to the vibrancy of the community.

As a visitor I could gauge success simply by the light in the eyes, the warmth of their relationships and the smiles on the faces.

Inside an Achuar home, one of our hosts sings for us

The second community in which we spent 5 days is the village of Tiinkias in the heart of the Ecuadorian rain-forest.  Here a small community of Achuar people – about 35 families I understand – get everything they need for their daily lives provided by the rain forest.  They have no ‘money’ or money equivalent.  Tiinkias lodge is a recent innovation to supplement their lives.  It offers visitors a chance to enjoy their community and learn about their cultural practices and activities in return for some money which they use to access medical services and education.  Success for the Achuar is defined as a happy, healthy family.  It was very informative to experience their productive, happy community.

I’m not saying we should all return to an agrarian life, what I am saying is that these people are clear about what success means to them and so can lead purposeful, fulfilling and happy lives knowing they’re achieving what they set out to do.  If we defined success clearly, saying no to ‘busyness’ for the sake of it, or even the next bigger TV would be easier and we would reduce the complications and stress we feel much of the time in our lives.

On returning home I notice the NZ Herald is reporting that 48% of NZ businesses believe the economic recovery will gain pace.  Which is good news – I believe we need a thriving economy.  Because thriving is part of my definition of success.  Thriving for me means I make a meaningful contribution, I can support my family to eat well, be healthy and enjoy a fulfilling life.  And my community is also thriving.  Thriving also includes an ethical dimension – I am not thriving at the expense of others.

In creating successful sustainable businesses the question it is important to answer for ourselves – particularly as the pace picks up again – is what does success look like and what is real wealth?    Is it our health? Is it our relationships? Is it money in the bank or owning our own home?  Is it financial security and our ability to enjoy our work and fellow workers, and have fun with our families?  It is certainly not accumulating lots of things – things don’t bring fulfilment or happiness.

And that’s a marketing challenge because the easiest way to sell something is to attach to it a thing or an emotion that people do want.  Sex is used to sell toothpaste these days!  A current ad for Coke uses the slogan “Open Happiness.” The promise is false, and all of us know it, yet we keep falling for the illusion. We can begin to free ourselves from that illusion by being clear on what success is, what happiness is for us.  My guess is that for most of us it includes many of the same things the San Clemente and Achuar communities are clear about —family, community, good health, good work, intellectual endeavour, no financial stress, experience of art and nature, service to others, a sense of purpose, even spiritual insight.

On the weekend I was speaking to a client I worked with between 2005 – 2007.  His business is thriving and he is enjoying life with his sons, building a new home and able to say no when asked to reduce his margins on the work he does.  In 2005 he clearly defined success as “We be proud, We be fun, We be profitable”.  These three simple statements have guided him clearly through the last couple of difficult years in business to stay proud of the work that leaves his premises, to ensure that everybody at work is having fun and also to say no when pressured to reduce his margins.  Finding great staff is easy, maintaining standards and deliver in on his promise to his customers is all systemised, life is uncomplicated. He told me that one of the most valuable things he got from working with me was the confidence to stand by his values and run his business aligned with them.

Over 95% of people I speak with identify with most of the things the San Clemente community have identified as being most important to them.  The question is of course how do we build our businesses to honour our dreams, our highest aspirations, our vision for our lives – those things we actually want that determine our real success? And then how do we measure this as a person, a business and as a country?

I’d love to hear your thoughts so please comment if you have a moment.

Be A Game Changer In Your Industry.

I had the idea for this article when doing some google analytics research thanks to my wonderful VA.  I was looking at keyword searches and saw that over 27,000 people in New Zealand searched the phrase “What is business coaching?”  Then I had a look at my website and I see that I sell ‘coaching’!  And that was the “aha – I’m selling something that people don’t even know what it is.”  (for my description of business coaching see below)

So Understanding Sales Part 2 is about finding out what your ideal client or customer really wants.

• Do they want a massage – or do they want how their body and mind feel when they have had a massage?
• Do they want a computer server – or do they want to have access to all their data whenever and wherever they want it?
• Do they want your legal services – or do they want to know that all the details of their conveyancing or a will or contracts are taken care of in the best way possible?

You get the idea.  Offer what they really want and package that up for them so they are saying ‘how do I buy? not what’s the price?’   Most of us ask the “what’s the price question” only because we don’t know what else to ask.  In the case of business coaching, what’s the price is a very frequent question and I can’t usually tell them that until I know what they actually want.

Hairdressers do this quite well.  They don’t sell 4 hours in a salon – they sell how you will look and feel when you come out.

Gyms have been on to this for years.  They don’t sell 100 hours on the treadmill and bench press.  They sell fitness, health, weight loss.  Another great example is Interface Carpets.  They have worked out that Corporations actually don’t want to buy carpet, they want the services that carpet delivers e.g. great looking floor covering, quiet thoroughfare surfaces, elegance etc.  Interface sell a carpet service.  This was a critical game changer for them in terms of their intention to be a truly sustainable business.  It gave them control over what happens to the carpet once the purchaser has no more need or use for it.  It has also given them a leading position in the market.

The question to ask is, “am I selling my process, my product or the end result the customer wants?”  Often we will pay more for what we really want.  I looked through local list listings and still see most plumbers, electricians, lawyers, jewellers, dentists, optometrists, computer service companies selling their product or the process. This is your chance to be unique and different and stand out from your competition.

Of course if you’d like some help working out the answer and then putting a marketing plan together – just ask bridget@creatingwhatmatters.co.nz.

What is Business Coaching?

“Business coaching helps owners of small and medium sized businesses with their sales, marketing, management, team building and so much more”  ” business coaching is about making improvements and changes so that you and your business perform at a much higher level, continually growing”.

Yes that’s business coaching 101.  A definition I prefer is “helping business owners build their dream business(es) enabling them, their employees and their families to have joyful, fulfilling lives”.

If you can dream it you can build it!

If you’ve got a better definition please send it to me bridget@creatingwhatmatters.co.nz.

Related articles: Understanding Sales (part one)