Time Management Tips for Email and Social Media

It's easy to lose time to email and social media. One of the reasons is that it's an easy activity. Another reason is that it's an unbounded activity. There is always more to do, and it's not always obvious when you are "done." So the big challenges become, setting limits and respecting your boundaries, while accomplishing your goals.

Here are five ways to improve your time management with email and social media:
Set goals. If you don't have any goals, it will be hard to know what good looks like, or when you are done. If you set goals, you have a way to set limits.
Don't "paper shuffle." This is especial true for email. Follow the rule of "touch it once." Act on it versus shuffling around and revisiting. One way to do this is to treat your email as an incoming stream of action. Take the action items out of your emails and put them in a separate place. Just by tracking your action items outside of your email will dramatically increase your ability to process your mail.
Set a specific time each day. Set a specific time each day for email, returning phone calls, and social media. Just by having a specific time, you can start to set boundaries and limits. It's also easier to stay focused on the current task, if you know you have a time and a place for things.
Set a time limit. Set a time limit for reviewing email. Set a time limit for social media. Parkinson's Law teaches us that time expands to fill its container. Things till take as long as we give them. If we want them to take less time, then we need to give them less time. Be sure to periodically revisit your time limits. If you aren't meeting your goals, then you may need to adjust your time limits. You may also find that you can find more effective techniques, and potentially reduce the time you spend. There are always opportunities if you look for them.
Triage your incoming items. Triage simply means determining the priority of something based on the severity. Triage your incoming action items to either "do it," "queue it" for later, "schedule it," by blocking time out for it on your calendar, or "delegate it," to get it off your plate.

If you can keep the big idea in mind of setting time limits, you are off to a good start. It gets easier to set time limits if you have a consistent time for each activity, because then it becomes a habit. To stay grounded, having your goals in place will help you know whether you are trending in the right direction.

About the Author

J.D. Meier blogs on time management at Sources of Insight. J.D. created the time management system, Getting Results the Agile Way, a simple system for meaningful results. You can take Getting Results the Agile Way for a test-drive by checking out the free time management training system, 30 Day Boot Camp for Getting Results.