For many business owners, email seems to consume our lives. We get frustrated by the inefficiency of email, but it is a beast that we all must deal with daily. Can it be tamed? Is “Inbox Zero” really like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?
 
If you’re like me, you’ve read numerous tips on how to tame the beast. I’ve tried a few and they seem to work for a while, but eventually, the beast rises again. I’ve tried the Do, Defer, Delegate, or Delete method. If it takes less than 2 minutes, do it. If not, defer until you can or delegate it. Otherwise, delete it. The problem with this method was that most of my emails should only take 2 minutes -- 60 emails at 2 minutes is still two hours! Another method I tried was Yesterbox but still took most of the day, as Tony Hsieh said  it would. 

Basically, every method I’ve tried still requires numerous hours per day to handle. Now that’s a big beast. Ain’t nobody got time for that! So, what do we do? Try to stay afloat? Constantly apologize for the delay in response? Ignore our families while we attend to email at all hours? Give up and let our inbox be filled to the thousands?
 
Screw that! 
 
The problem with most tips is they address how to handle your inbox as it exists today. What about changing the way your inbox exists? Instead of trying to manage just email, how about we shift the problem to ask, “What is the best way to manage information flow in my business?” Basically, what information can I send or receive outside of email?

As a simple example, small business owners may send contracts to their new clients via email. You have to customize the template to that client, convert to PDF, draft an email and attach the PDF, and send. Now you have to wait for them to sign and send back, then download and save it somewhere (or just leave it in your inbox). That’s a lot of steps and at least 2 emails. Because they probably are caught up in the beast of email, they may not even see yours! So, do you follow up? How often? Do you assume they actually weren’t interested in your services? All because of the beast called email!
 
But could this be handled outside of email? Is it absolutely necessary to send through email? Instead, you could create a template in a document signing software (such as Docusign or HelloSign) and now when you have a new client, a few simple clicks send the contract and no email is involved on your end! Not only do you have fewer emails but you also get new clients started faster—bonus!
 
Here are 3 steps to tame the beast (also known as email) by shifting the question to how to manage information flow. 
​

1. Reduce the number of emails you receive. What are the common emails you receive? Are they prospective clients wanting to schedule a call or get more information? Are they clients asking for routine actions such as scheduling a call or sending documents? Are they clients requesting major work such as a business owner asking their web designer for edits to their website? Think about ways to reduce these common emails. Some examples include:

• Autoresponders that contain the information needed to complete the common task. For instance, it could say something like: if you’re writing to schedule a call, please click here for access to my calendar. Indeed, you could email me at laura@freedom-makers.com to see my autoresponder. A CPA might say, “If you’re needing your tax returns from a previous year, please log in to your account here to access.” A web designer or landscape maintainer may say, “To submit service requests, please click here to start a ticket.” Or keep it simple and have the autoresponder explain how you work: “Hello. In order to be more productive, I check email on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 10 and 11 am and will respond during that time. If it’s urgent, please call my assistant at….” 
• Create ways for clients to submit information you need or to make requests. For example, a career coach needs a job description and your current resume to create a resume for the job you’re going for. They could create a form (using tools like Wufoo or Jotform) for job seekers to upload this information easily. A web designer or landscape maintainer could use a ticketing system like Freshdesk for clients to submit service requests. A marketing consultant could use Slack channels for clients requesting specific information to be posted to their social media. An attorney or CPA could use a document storage system (Dropbox or SmartVault) for clients to upload their documents. 

When you create ways for people to get what they need without going through email, your number of emails decreases. We’re starting to tame the beast. 

    2.  Set priorities around the emails you do receive, how they should be handled, and
         by whom. Generally, emails come from four types of senders:

• Support: contractors, subcontractors, employees, vendors, etc.
• Existing or previous clients
• Prospective clients and referral sources
• Everything else

Determine in what order emails from these senders should be handled ( i.e., prospective clients first, existing clients second, support third, everything else last). Next, determine who should handle what. If you are the primary sales person, then you handle all prospective clients. Or maybe your Virtual Assistant (VA) handles getting the call scheduled but you take the call. Your VA or employee could handle certain requests from existing clients. For instance, a CPA or financial planner might have their VA handle scheduling appointments or “easy” requests such as sending previous tax returns. For an HR consultant, an employee may handle HR tasks up to their level of experience or all the tasks associated with particular clients. A VA should be handling everything else or you can when you have time—reading E-newsletters, for example.

    3.  Now that you’ve reduced the number of emails you receive and have outlined who
         should handle what types of emails, you are ready to organize the emails you do
         receive. 

• You can change the settings in your email to prioritize for you. Check out Episode 3 of All Systems Go! to see how to change your settings if you use Gmail. You can also use filters. Filters “filter” specific types of email, such as e-newsletters into a folder that you open when you have the time. You can use a VA to monitor and organize your email in a manner that works for you (e.g., placing email into folders based on the 4 types of senders or color coding them). 
• You can create a private email for existing clients and a public one for everyone else. The public one can be monitored by your team. You can respond more quickly to your private email.
• You can use a #TechTool like Freshdesk to assign emails to your team so they’re not waiting for you to forward them. 

Now all that is left is email that only you can address. Maybe you don’t want to face the beast all at once. That is totally fine. I started with an autoresponder to schedule calls. A few months later, I created a form for prospective clients to trigger us getting started with the search for their Freedom Maker (I even had the notification set to text me rather than email!). Then I created a Docusign account so contracts never get sent through email. Recently, I created a form for Freedom Makers to submit their hours for payment. Now I’ve created a form for clients to add more hours to their balance. This progression has occurred over the last two years. Who knows what I’ll create next. In the meantime, I continue to review and respond to email until I notice a type that I dread and then I figure out a way to reduce it. It may take me a few hours to a few months to find a way, but once I do, I count it as a victory against the beast. Even better, I don’t feel guilty when I don’t get to email every day. Life is too short for that!

Wouldn't it be great to have a program that turns your written work (articles, blogs, marketing documents, etc.) into a video? Lumen5 (www.lumen5.com) does just that. It is a video creation program that allows businesses and brands to produce social content using written materials. And anyone with no experience or training can easily create video content in a matter of minutes. Lumen5 even has a built-in copyright-free media library containing millions of photos, videos, and audio tracks. Everything you need all in one place. Nice!

We at FreedomMakers love Lumen5; however, technology tools are not replacements for systems. It's important to have a system in place first, then use technology tools to make the system run more efficiently. Starting with a technology tool then creating a system presents risks - it may not be the best system, the tool does not match the system you need, and you end up wasting a lot of time and energy. We call that "garbage in/garbage out". Once you have created a system and have it in place, introduce technology tools, such as Lumen 5. Watch this video to see our review of this technology tool. 

Being interviewed by the ladies of Nourishing Real Talk was great fun. Lindsey and Jenna are engaging hosts and made the experience memorable. The topic of the podcast was entrepreneurs with multiple passions. We live with the mentality that we should find one thing we are passionate about and pursue that passion our whole lives. However, many of us have multiple passions and we feel we are not being productive or that it is wrong to not focus our attention on just one because it does not fit into the model. How do you weed through all your ideas? Give yourself time. Revisit the idea and, if you still feel strongly about it, then go for it! We create rules for ourselves about what is and is not acceptable and those rules are what holds us back from pursuing our passions (yes, passions - plural).

One of our very own FreedomMakers, Anna, is a good example of someone who is pursuing her passions. With a background in education, Anna, as with most military spouses, has followed her husband around the world supporting him and his military career while putting her career on hold. With her husband close to retirement, Anna has made the decision not to return to the classroom, but to hold steadfast in her desire to turn her passions -- photography, writing, and editing -- into a career. It took some time, but she has accomplished her goal. Anna works as a real estate photographer, writes book reviews and is an editor for a small publishing company, and is a marketing coordinator for FreedomMakers. She knew what she wanted, she gave it time, and she didn't give in to the "focus on one passion" mentality. Her family and friends doubted her and questioned her motives, but she proved to them that it was possible to make a career out of multiple passions. Way to go, Anna!

After Action Report: Update to Nourishing Real Talk Interview

"Action is the foundational key to all success." - Pablo Picasso

Email consumes 28% of the workweek, and less than half of those emails deserve your attention. On average, the number of business emails sent and received each day is 122!           And with a recovery time of 60-90 seconds for each email, that's a lot of time spent on email alone! How productive can you be if your work day is consumed with email? Look at your inbox. How many emails do you have? Which ones are important? How do you sort through and decide which take priority and which can wait? In Episode 3 of All Systems Go! Productivity Hacks, Laura Renner talks about organizing your Gmail account in a way that allows you to prioritize your email so you can focus on the important messages first and, thus, be more productive. Learn how to change your settings so important emails appear at the top of your inbox, while those of lesser importance are weeded out. You will be surprised at how much time you will save cleaning out your inbox by using this productivity hack. 

You've hired a Virtual Assistant, now what? Have you determined how a VA fits into your business plan? The #1 tip for effectively using a VA is to determine your expectations. Do you want someone immediately when you need them? Do you want them to work on a whim? Do you want someone who is an expert in everything? Expectations determine what type of VA you need. VA's work best when you have systems in place where they can work on their own with little input from you. 

Set the right expectations. What do you want accomplished? When do you want it done? What is the turnaround time? How best do you want to communicate with your VA -- email, texts, etc.? Consider "set it and forget it" systems -- systems that you have in place that do not require a lot of input. Establish triggers that let your VA know when it's time for action. Tools such as templates, logins, etc., should be shared with your VA so as to allow them to initiate tasks without your assistance. Actions, or work that needs to be done, should be clearly laid out as well.

Before hiring a VA, determine your expectations to ensure you find the right person. The right fit will allow you to focus on the important pieces of your business while having peace of mind that your VA will take care of the tasks that do not require your immediate attention. The #1 Tip to Effectively Using a Virtual Assistant

To-do lists are important in running a successful business. They allow you to be more productive and are also good indicators of how useful a Virtual Assistant (VA) can be. Once you've made your list, you can determine what you need to handle personally and what can be outsourced. Identify one or two things on your list that you can outsource. To-do lists are fluid documents; review them periodically and update as needed. You may find more items on your list that can be outsourced. Think of your list as an inverted pyramid. At the top (the widest part) are tasks that need to get done, but aren't as urgent, such as preparing for your children's activities. At the bottom of the pyramid (the tip) are the tasks most important. The problem that arises is things at the bottom of the pyramid are not completed because too much time is spent on the least important to-dos and, thus, taking up more space in your brain as well as more energy. When the pyramid inverts, you become less productive. 

So, how should your to-do list be handled and, therefore, make you more productive? Here are 5 ways to help you tackle your list. First, eat the frog. Yes, you read that correctly. "Eat the frog" is a term that means to do the least interesting task first. Just go ahead and get it over with and out of the way. Time blocking is another method. With time blocking, specific blocks of time are set aside for each task. Once the allotted time is over, move on to the next task. The Pomodoro Technique is similar to time blocking, but instead of assigning specific amounts of time to a given task, work is broken down into intervals   separated by short breaks. Traditionally, the intervals are 25 minutes in length with breaks of 10-15 minutes. Why not start out with the smallest (in regards to time) tasks first? Take those easy victories up front! And, finally, put technology to work. With the large selection of tools available today to help you manage your to-do list, there's bound to be one to fit your needs and personality. 

With all these great tips on how to make your to-do list more manageable, what are you waiting for? Get to work!

Have you been searching for the elusive Rockstar Virtual Assistant, someone who can handle everything for you? Sorry to burst your bubble, but he/she doesn't exist. Think about when you are in your Zone of Genius, focused on a specific task, and working diligently to complete it in a timely manner. Now, immediately shift gears and start working on a different task. Shift again. It becomes confusing and unproductive, doesn't it? The same thing would happen to the mythological Rockstar Virtual Assistant as well. It would be easier for you to hire 2 people instead of just one -- for example, hire a VA to handle administrative tasks and another VA to handle marketing. Each VA would work in their specific Zone of Genius and make life easier for all. Outsourcing -- allows you to stay focused on your Zone of Genius. For more about outsourcing and Zone of Genius, watch Laura Renner's video "The Myth of a Rockstar Virtual Assistant."

When it comes to running a business, are you "working to live" or "living to work"? Hopefully, it's not the latter. Think about why you started your business and how you can make it run more efficiently and, therefore, allow you to spend more time living and less time working. Recently, FreedomMakers founder, Laura Renner, shared her insights on building freedom on all levels of your business on Episode 45 of Nourishing Real Talk  with hosts Lindsey Allen and Jenna Teague, both entrepreneurs themselves. ​Laura says that in the beginning of designing your business, you first need to decide on the type of life you want and how many hours a day and days a week you want to work to build your business and design your business so that you are only working that amount of time. Does your business vision include working 4 hours per day 4 days per week? Then make a plan based on what you want to accomplish during that 16 hours. Use momentum and ease as cues when building your business. And don't forget to delegate. Removing yourself as the bottleneck can be a daunting task, but with a reliable VA, this is possible. However, without systems in place, a VA becomes another item you have to handle, which negates the notion of delegation. Set it and forget it. Let your VA take on tasks that will allow you to focus on the big picture. Maintaining motivation -- what Laura refers to as "a different kind of hard" -- over the long term can also be a challenge. Take a listen and hear about Laura's brilliant solution for handling email, along with many other life hacks that will give you time to live more and work less. 

*Nourishing Real Talk is for "fearlessly authentic women and multi-passionate entrepreneurs who are all about living their lives and doing business on their own terms."