Towards Inbox Zero: Being ultraproductiveJussi Roine, Chief SharePoint ArchitectOnsight Helsinki
#ProductivityDay Spring 2013
Organizers
#ProductivityDay
Jussi RoineArchitect, trusted advisor, mojito
enthusiast
Microsoft Certified Master: SharePoint 2010
Microsoft Certified Solutions Master: SharePoint
Microsoft Certified Trainer
Certified Scrum Master
SharePoint User Group Finland Community Lead
About.me/jussiroine
Training and solutions for Microsoft technologies
http://onsight.fi
Best talent in Finland for all Microsoft solutions
http://names.fi
So, you might wonder why I’ve gathered you here today..
What’s Inbox Zero? Why should I care?
Achieving Inbox Zero
Feeling busy, being busy or being productive?
Productivity tools of today
#ProductivityDay
”Lunch was bad” (actual feedback I’ve received)
Ask me questions - or as Mr. Garrison from South Park would say:
“remember there are no stupid questions, just stupid people”
What’s Inbox Zero?
The ProblemEmail overload is a real issue
It’s not just email: It’s instant messaging, calendar invitations, alerts, notifications..
Part of the problem is the fear of missing out – and being available 24/7
Digital detox, Tech Sabbath and other cute names
http://inboxzero.comInvented by Merlin Mann
Inbox Zero allows you to reclaim
your email
your attention
your life
The ideaInbox Zero is a very simple concept
0 emails in your inbox
That’s it. Thank you.
(You may now go home)
How it worksSome messages are more equal than others
Your time is priceless – and very limited
Lose the guilt – you are not the only one fighting with email overflow
Stop checking on emails constantly
Just do it.
How it worksBased on 5 actions My personal approach is only 3:
Do ( Archive)
Defer (Do later)
Delegate ( Archive)
Time will solve -pile
But, wait.. No, it’s not that easy!Why not? What’s stopping you?
Some common excuses:
”My Inbox is perfectly fine with 13985 emails..”
”I get so many emails that I’m too busy to sort them out”
”I need to be included in all email communications”
”I’m on so many distribution lists that I simply cannot control my Inbox”
It’s about prioritizing thingsOn average Finnish people watch tv for 3 hours
and 3 mins a day Source: Finnpanel (2012)
That’s about 21 hours a week
There’s 168 hours in a week, or about 115 hours a week for yourself
In essence, people spend about 18% of their wake-up time watching TV...
I’ll let that sink in :-)
Achieving Inbox Zero
My experience with Inbox Zero I’m fairly familiar with productivity techniques
such as Gettings Things Done (GTD), the Pomodoro Technique and The Action Method
I felt the problem wasn’t really about managing tasks, but about information overflow through email
I embarked on my voyage towards Inbox Zero in January, 2013
Getting to Inbox Zero I’m super-efficient in decluttering my life
Less stuff is actually more
It took me one weekend to achieve Inbox Zero for all of my email inboxes (3)
It wasn’t really that hard – just add persistence, some good Argentinian wine and a mojito, and music, and a mojito. Add mojitos when necessary.
It’s a decision and once you get started, it’s actually fairly easy to stick to
Decluttering
Findings from Inbox ZeroDon’t read emails during the weekend – it just effin sucks!
Actually, don’t work during the weekends
Switch email to manual sync on your mobile devices
Close Outlook. Really, just ALT-F4 that attention wh.. seeker
Email is important but I’ve switched to using plain-old phone calls and actually seeing people face to face. I know, I’m a trendsetter..
What now? It’s been about 5 months of Inbox Zero for me
I’m happier than ever!
I blogged about my experience in January http://bit.ly/V0Rtbm (in Finnish)
I came up with 3 short rules for managing your time with email http://bit.ly/12YhkW2 Don’t assume, Don’t forward, Don’t argue
I still haven’t ordered my Inbox Zero Nerd Badges (hint for a Christmas present for me!)
Feeling busy, being busy, or being
productive?
The differenceFeeling busy is easy – just ”do stuff” – it’s easy
to fill a whole week by being reactive and meta-working
Being busy often comes from external drivers
Being productive is about deciding what’s important and doing that
In essence, you’ll need to achieve things, and get stuff done. Daily.
My daily routineEvery morning I write 3 things down I need to
achieve during the day
When I’ve accomplished those 3 things I can
Leave work
or
Continue working on other stuff
What about today?
My daily routineI try to be at the office before 8am and leave the
office 4.30pm the latest – I aim for 100% loadI don’t do breaks
I resume working – if I feel like it – at ~8pm I used to work during the weekends but not anymore
I don’t really care how many hours I do since essentially, I don’t want to be measured by hours, I want to be measured by what I can deliver
I care how much stuff I get done
Grand Canyon.. with a helicopter
Working remotely
Working remotely
Rock climbing (laptop is in base camp)
In the hammock
Productivity tools of today
Hey, where’s the SharePoint angle here?Damn, I thought you’d forget that by now!
But I did promise..
SharePoint = Productivity, if you choose to use it like it was designed to be used
Otherwise, SharePoint is a huge time waster
The essentialsSharePoint 2013 revolves around social –
Newsfeed, Yammer, Follow and Personal Site
Start simple, grow from there
Site Mailbox and Work Management are good but contained and somewhat complex to set up
Less is more, keep it simple
So, what should I do?Try Inbox Zero – just skip one evening of
television!
Read – I can heartily recommend..
Thank you! And sorry ;-)
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