Healthy Nation

Emails neglection may stress your mind politely and respectfully to please take you off their forwarding list.While youre at it, talk to the well-meaning people who really feel you need them to stay well informed. I had a friend once who went on the Atkins diet for three days and for the next three years her mother forwarded every article ever written about anorexia. Im sure you can relate.There, youve just saved yourself from opening ten emails a day.When you open emails, process them immediately. Either delete, forward, respond, or if you dont Have an answer, move the email into a follow-up folder. Before you move on to another task, be sure youve deleted or archived every incoming email.DITCH THE DELIBERATIONWhen its time to answer your email, dont waste time trying to be clever or profound; make your point and move on. Deliberating over email can eat up big chunks of your day. If putting what you want to say in an email is difficult, then pick up the phone and have a conversation.It may seem like small potatoes, but this email organization think has profound implications for the rest of your energy balance sheet. Not to put too metaphysical a point on it, but the more things we leave undone in our mental inbox, the more we drain our psychic (and emotional and ultimately physical) energy. You can start plugging those energy holes by facing up to the challenge of email.Before long youll be treating the distractions of your bigger life in the same way: Deal with now, delegate, or delete. What an energizing concept!