E-mail is the easiest communication tool available to the corporate professional these days. Between “reply all”, “listservs” and “just checking in” emails, it is not difficult to see your Inbox fill up and spiral out of control. This phenomenon is compounded by Blackberrys, iPhones and PDAs where people can be accessible 24/7/365. It is impossible to escape from the constant barrage, or so it seems.

It is most effective for the working professional to “batch” their email readings and responses. Every hour, set aside some time to read and reply to your emails. Turn off your email notification in the meantime so that you’re not distracted from “veggies” by email “dings”. Color code your email rules so that you can know what emails you need to address first. For example, have all of your bosses emails be colored red. That way you know that you need to open, read and reply to those emails first. Have emails from friends and family be colored another way so that you know to read those over lunch or after you finish your “veggies”.

By using email rules, removing notifications and batching your reading/response time, you will be better able to control the deluge into your Inbox.

I’ve been in the industry of corporate training & development for over 13 years now. I’ve heard it all, seen it all and been through it all when it comes to corporate training sessions. One thing that consistently lacks, when it should be one of the most prevalent threads, is employees who are putting any sort of mental closure on their work day. They are working late, bringing work home with them either physically or emotionally or mentally, sleeping poorly, waking up unrefreshed and when they arrive back at the office they feel like they’ve never left. They haven’t!

In order to have a successful work life AND a successful home life, it is imperative that employees learn to close out their day. Put a cap on their work and start setting up for tomorrow. By making that clean mental break between today and tomorrow, they are assured that their tomorrow will start better and that their tonight will be a refreshing break from work.

My work on the new time management book is coming along slowly. McGraw Hill made the executive decision to keep the same title, Organizing for Success. Now it is going to be published as a revision to my previous book rather than a separate entity. I don’t necessarily agree with this decision; the research, findings and methods are all new and all up to date. This is not some stodgy fake update, but a complete overhaul with ground-breaking new information. No one else has covered this material, no one else is publishing this research.

It is truly amazing to me the number of authors, even famous ones, who simply spew the same old stuff in different ways and call it “revolutionary”. No one is coming out with new thoughts or new ideas.

Look for my new book in the 1st quarter of 2010– you won’t be disappointed.