New Year Resolutions at the office
I love e-mail. I am not sure why, maybe it is because it is similar to the feeling I got as a kid when I got mail, or a package from grandma. So when I open up my work e-mail, and I have a lot of it, or I am working on a project and I receive an e-mail I read it right away! What is the problem with that? The problem is that I lose productivity, mostly the focus and direction I may have possessed before the e-mail notice popped up on my screen. I have read many articles saying that this habit of letting e-mail interupt your work can kill about 2 hours of productivity a day! That is 10 hours a week! I won’t even calculate that for a month or year. So, in the new year, I plan to pounce on new “e-mail only during certain times of the day” plan. It will be tough, but I want my 10 hours a week of productivity back!
I would like to hear from our other resident bloggers and readers. What is your new years resolution at the office?
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I have the same resolution as you. I’m actually thinking about letting people at work know about my plan in hopes that they won’t approach me 5 minutes after sending an e-mail and ask, “Did you get my e-mail?” I want them to know, yes, I got your e-mail, and I won’t be a slave to it, thank you. (Rephrased politely, of course.)
My other resolution is to say “no” more often. I take on way too much because I get excited about new projects but I need to focus on follow-through and delivery so that people know they can count on me every time I say “yes.”
I have the same problem. I love getting emails and outlook kills me every time I’m in the middle of typing up a report and I recieve a message in the bottom right of my screen stating that I have a very exciting email waiting for me. Maybe I’ll try that myself… only checking email twice a day.
My office resolution is to bring my own lunch at least 3 times a week. The past two years I have probably only done that a handful of times. However, this will make my memorization of the Deli menu and weekly specials obsolete… oh well.
Brandon A;
Packing lunches is a great idea! If you eat out a few times a week you can end up spending more than $100.00 on food every paycheck…save the good eating for the weekend, but it is always nice to get out of the office to use a lunch as a networking moment.
My office resolution is to escape from my desk more often during lunch, whether it’s to work out or to have lunch with others.