I remember calling my brother Tom on the phone, just to tell him that I had my first e-mail address. 

This was back in the day when AOL sent snail mail CDs-by the boatload-trying to entice people into signing up.

Yes, I was thrilled…even though there was hardly anyone else I knew who had an e-mail address. I’m pretty sure that mine was belinda3126@aol.com.

Tom’s response to my earth-shattering news was simple: “Why would you possibly want an e-mail address?” 

To his credit, he thought that adding another way for people to be in touch would only make life more complicated. Neither one of us had any idea how right he would turn out to be.

Today, for most of us, e-mail runs our lives. It’s on our phones, our tablets, and our computers, so it’s pretty hard to ignore. Every time a message arrives, it makes a sound, pops up a little window, or causes our phones to vibrate.

Even if you’re smart enough to make your e-mail silent, it’s still there…gathering in your inbox every minute.

So, you might ask, “How can I manage this e-mail monster???” 

Well, here’s what I do:

1. I use Gmail for business. This isn’t free Gmail; it’s customized, supported and paid for ($60 a year). But it means that my e-mail is “in the cloud” and effortlessly syncs among all of my devices. If I archive a message on my phone, it’s no longer in my inbox on my computer and iPad, so there’s no duplication of efforts.
2. The only e-mails that I keep in my inbox are those that require action. Newsletters, e-mails from my favorite online stores, junk, and everything else deemed non-actionable are removed immediately from my inbox. If I’m wondering what’s on sale at GarnetHill.com (my favorite place to shop), I can look after office hours. During the day, my job is to keep my e-mail box clean of everything except what needs my focus.
3. When I read an e-mail that only requires a quick answer, I answer it quickly and am done with it. This way, I only touch it once.
4. I batch messages and read by client. Even though I monitor my e-mail all day, when it’s time to answer those that require a longer, more thoughtful answer, I do it all at once for each client. In other words, if I’m going to focus on Dave, I sort my e-mails to show me everything from Dave that’s still in my inbox. That way, I can handle everything that Dave needs, then cross him off my to-do list.
5. I ignore e-mail while I’m doing focused client work. For an hour or two at a time, as crazy as it may sound, I stop looking at e-mails and get work done.

I have the same compulsion as everyone else to read every e-mail the minute it appears in my inbox. But I’ve learned, over time, that this is a distraction that makes me far less productive.