This post is not going to debate the merits of friendly intra-office banter/camaraderie. I can’t think of a single reason to say that having friends in the office or at least maintaining friendly attitudes is bad. However, in terms of time-management and efficiency, they must be put in their place. Literally.

When I first showed up to work in the mornings, I always thought of the first 60-90 minutes as “show and tell”. What happened over the weekend, funny emails, stories from home life etc. First thing in the morning was the appropriate time to discuss all of these things. Wrong! Those first couple of hours are the best time of time to do your “veggies”– those all important tasks that are good for your employment health, but maybe not the most fun.

Don’t get me wrong, building a cohesive, friendly atmosphere with co-workers is very important. But use your time wisely! By employing a “batching” strategy of time management and accomplishing your veggies first thing in the morning, you can maintain relationships and accomplish more.

A huge cause of mistakes in the work place are caused by multi-tasking too many projects in too little time. Replying to emails while checking voicemails and listening to your co-worker’s story about his dog is bound to slow down each task and lead it to be done less effectively.

Our brains are fantastic processors, but they have their limits. Yes, it is possible to do multiple things at once, but it increases the time it takes for our brain to process our thoughts about each task and it is more likely to “cross wires” between tasks and make a mistake.

Wouldn’t it make more sense for us to slow down, take 5 minutes to do a task, do it well and then move on to the next task? While you might feel more productive doing two things at once, stop mistaking activity for productivity.

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.