Category Archives: Email

Why GMail Priority Inbox Won’t Work

It seemed like good news at first — GMail has come out with a new way of helping its users to manage their information overload using a handy innovation called Google Priority Inbox.  Here’s what the GMail page describing the … Continue reading

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Is HR Doing Enough to Protect Worker Productivity?

Start with managerial anxiety.  Add in some new technology in the form of smartphones.  Toss in some employees that don’t know how to say no. Watch as bad habits develop around email, text messages, voice calls and IM’s. Or… perhaps… … Continue reading

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The Productive Moron

I just published a provocative article over at the Stepcase Lifehack blog entitled “Are You Becoming a Productive Moron?” In the article I make a tongue-in-cheek prediction based on some of the behaviors I see today… the most simple-minded employees … Continue reading

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The UnProductive Time Games that Employees Play

It happens in every company.  Within a few months, the top notch  recruit from one of the best schools joins in the time management games that their colleagues have been practicing for years, and  before long they are operating at … Continue reading

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Outlook’s Shortcomings – Part 4

So far in this series, I have addressed the idea that Outlook could be improved by re-building it around the fundamental practices of time management.  The fundamental, Emptying, is the most important one for many users, and it also could … Continue reading

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Outlook’s Shortcomings – Part 3

In my prior post I brought up the notion that Outlook was designed to solve user’s problems with email, rather than the bigger problem they have with time demands. I also mentioned that the company that understands this shift would … Continue reading

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Converting Email into Scheduled Items

Ever since I learned that I could take an email and immediately transform it to an item in my schedule with its own start and end time, I have engaged in the habit almost daily. In Outlook 2007 it’s a … Continue reading

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New York Times Article on the Empty Inbox

An article in the New York Times that reiterates some of the points that I have made in this blog can be found here:An Empty In-box or With Just a Few Email Messages.The writer shares the practices he uses to … Continue reading

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In Emergencies – Forget Email

I am working on a project in which almost everyone around me carries a Blackberry.  My observation as one of the few non-Blackberry users is that many have developed habits that thwart their productivity. One sad habit that has developed … Continue reading

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A Zero Inbox in Outlook or Gmail?

I just read a great post over at the Web Worker Daily Blog. It essentially has to do with Capturing in one’s inbox, and how using Outlook has lead to very different ways of maintaining a Zero Inbox than using … Continue reading

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