Last night, I deleted the email app from my iPhone.
Tomorrow, I’ll be removing email from all of my devices, save a couple of Macs - and even on those, it’ll be hidden from view.
This is a big deal for me. It also signals a big change that’s happening behind the scenes at Mark Ellis Media, and one I’m both excited and nervous about.
For as long as I can remember, email has been a constant presence throughout my working day. Beyond YouTube analytics (yep, I’m still struggling to break free of that habit, too), email is the first thing I check each morning. I then continue to check it constantly throughout the day.
Open the inbox. Pull to refresh. Reply to an email. Work on something else.
Open the inbox. Pull to refresh. Mark an important email I can’t be bothered to deal with now as unread.
Work on something else.
Open the inbox. Pull to refresh. You get the idea.
There are numerous problems with this. The first is that email is, as you can see, a constant source of distraction. It dictates my mindset for most of the day and means I’m constantly context-switching, which is the biggest enemy of productivity. I’m also a dreadful email user. I’ve tried using folders, tags, and filtering, but have always returned to the mark-as-unread, to-do list-style management of my inbox.
My approach to email is tiring, prone to errors, and the absolute worst use of my time. This is despite email remaining the most important source of incoming business opportunities, partnership proposals, review requests, and event invites. Basically, without my inbox, I’m not convinced I’d have much of a business. Giving it up, therefore, is incredibly scary.
But that’s what I’m doing, later today when I onboard my new assistant. She is going to take complete ownership of my inbox, reply on my behalf where appropriate, seek my input where required, and ask me to respond if absolutely necessary. That means, if you email me in the future, you’ll probably hear from Michelle first. It’s best for everyone; without her, you may not get a reply at all, unless you’re a potential sponsor or represent a significant business opportunity (sorry if that sounds harsh, but with the volume of incoming emails this business experiences, it’s the reality).
The good news is that this will result in me successfully buying back my time - a tactic I’ve been obsessed with since discovering Dan Martell’s brilliant book on the subject.
It’s what I’ll get to do with that time that excites me, and I’ll take you on that journey via this newsletter. I plan to focus on content creation, strategy, and the ‘key person of influence’ stuff that gets me out of the studio and into the industry at large. I also need to crack on with the book - the progress for which has stalled of late due to a severe lack of time.
That’s the rub: I don’t want to ever think I have a severe lack of time ever again. I want to invest the time I do have in the things that light me up, grow the business, and enable me to spend time with the people who matter the most - my family.
I won’t lie, though - my finger is hovering over the Outlook icon. It’ll get easier, I’m sure.
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