Having trouble responding to all that e-mail? Noticing that the paper on your desk or kitchen counter reproduces like rabbits when you aren’t looking? Here’s a tip for beginning to master these monsters.
By using the 2-minute and 5-minute rules from previous weeks in combination with this week’s OHIO Principle, you can begin to gain the upper hand on these tormentors. First, a refresher: The 2-minute Rule is “If I can do it in two minutes or less, I’ll do it now.” The 5-minute Rule is “I only have to work for five minutes.”
The OHIO Principle is “Only Handle It Once”. While we can’t use this principle for everything, I am always amazed at how often we can. Piles of e-mails or papers that feel as if they are choking the life out of us can be brought into submission through this simple strategy.
Here’s how to use the OHIO Principle:
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Ask yourself: “Can I handle this e-mail or this piece of paper in two minutes or less?” If the answer is yes, do it now. A two-minute response to e-mail is a quick reply, then delete/file the e-mail. Two-minute responses to paper include: shred, toss, file, quick phone call, or delegate.
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If the answer is “No, I can’t do this in two minutes or less”, then work on it for no more than five minutes. That five minutes will include a sticky note about where you stopped and what you need to do next time you have 5 minutes to continue.
Don’t panic! Breathe! You are probably wondering how this is going to help when you have a mountain of e-mails or papers that you have neglected for months – maybe even years. And furthermore, you don’t have “folders” set up for your e-mails or a file system for your papers! Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you aren’t going to undo years of backlog in a day either. But here is what you can do. First, begin today to apply the OHIO Principle to new e-mails and papers to keep your mountains from getting bigger. Second, use the two- and five-minute rules to chip away steadily at those mountains until they become molehills. And don’t forget to breathe!
