Time Management: Email or Tennis?
By Sharon Teitelbaum, MA, MCC, Sharon@stcoach.com

Be wary of the choices you make when you are at your keyboard! One of my coaching clients complained that she no longer had time to play tennis. Together we examined some of the choices she regularly made about how to use her time. This is what we found. She typically spent about 45 minutes a day reading and responding to email that was not essential to her work or her life. It was 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there, no big deal. She read articles that people sent her, she looked at websites, read emails from several listservs she's on, wrote amusing responses to a range of people, and so forth.

Her 45 minutes a day, 7 days a week, added up to 5 hours a week on what she called "random email." In itself, this is innocuous enough. But she saw that by choosing to spend this time on "random email," she was by default choosing NOT to spend that time playing tennis. Five hours a week, aggregated, could translate into 2 ample tennis events for her, complete with a cool-down and shower. Once she saw the impact of her choices, she started choosing differently. She taped a tiny picture of a tennis racket to the corner of her screen to remind her. And she has stopped being such a profligate time spender at her keyboard. She recently emailed me right after getting back from playing tennis. She wrote, "I am a much happier camper having tennis in my life again. And I don't really miss reading those random emails!"

What about you? What are you sacrificing to your email habit?

If you ever feel deprived because you don't have time to do things that you really enjoy, you might take a look at the extent to which your own behaviors and choices create time deficits for you. Don't underestimate the potential traction available from learning to strengthen your boundaries around how you spend your time. Consider a round of laser coaching. Contact me to set up an initial consultation at no charge, or to discuss productivity training for your organization.

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