If you don't like something, change it;
If you can't change it, change the way you think about it.
~Mary Engelbreit
Every morning, I would automatically wake up, reach for the phone to turn off the alarm and glance at my emails, texts and social media before even getting out of bed. Let me repeat that- BEFORE even getting out of bed.
I had the mentality that every waking minute was never meant to be wasted and the moment you opened your eyes, you needed to be productive. Time was everything and I couldn't waste a minute of it.
But, as cliche as it may sound, the older I got, the more I realized that maybe this wasn't the best idea I had. After all, this habit was setting the tone for my day and I, along with everyone else in my family (including the barista at Starbucks) knew this!
What do I mean by this? Well...
If I came across good news, I was off to a great start. I eagerly got out of bed, got dressed in no time, kissed the family good-bye and was on my merry way. My pacing was so in tact and full-proof, that I even had plenty of time to stop by Starbucks and get my "fuel" for the day. Good ole' coffee.
Happy times.
However, if I came across something on the contrary, I got out of bed stressed, began conversations with myself while getting dressed, and dreaded heading out the door. To be quite honest, my family would scatter from my path and would call me on my phone instead to wish me a good day knowing that my morning was off to handling an email that already needed "attention". Of course when you receive an email of that nature, there is a sense of urgency that makes you want to get to work even earlier which means, no Starbucks.
Not good.
I'll even admit that starting my morning with the second scenario once qualified me for "Mom NOT of the Year" when I drove all the way to work and after having parked my car and hearing a young voice say, "mom?", that I realized my son was still sitting in the backseat of the car looking at me completely confused trying to figure out why he was at work with me and not at school where he belonged.
So emails, texts and yes, even social media had that effect on me.
Determined not to continue my horrible habit, I did what every intelligent person in search of a highly-qualified answer would do- I Googled it!
I sat down, looked at my Mac and typed, "What do successful people do in the morning?" I wanted to know the secrets to what productive people did in order to manage it all, be successful and still be sane without forgetting to drop their children off at school.
Of all the things I read online, and then of course in books, articles and such, one set of words I constantly came across stood out most-
"THEY DISCONNECT"
Highly-effective people are found to start off their morning focusing on themselves by exercising, meditating, eating breakfast, being with family, etc.
They consistently connect with themselves before connecting with others (e.g. email, texts, social media, etc.), so that they could remain focused, positive, and not inclined to meet the needs of others first thing in the morning.
So in comes Boomerang and my email dilemma!
This nifty management system allowed for some sanity to come right back into my life when it came to emails.
Three tips and tricks that I found useful with Boomerang were:
1) The PAUSE INBOX option
2) The SEND LATER option
3) The BOOMERANG option
The PAUSE INBOX option
With the PAUSE INBOX option, I was able to control the time in which I received emails throughout my entire day. One would say this would be extremely useful especially for those who have the natural tendency to look at their phones when they hear their email alert sound off and usually stop right smack in the middle of whatever they are doing just to get excited about the holiday Bath and Body Works coupon!
Just sayin'.
So, rule of thumb, my email inbox is paused in the evening at a specific time and is unpaused in the morning at a specific time to avoid interruptions and the temptation of checking my inbox 24-7.
The SEND LATER option
With the SEND LATER option, I was able to send emails at a reasonable time discouraging late night/super early correspondences. This even alleviated the many times people asked me the so ever need-to-know question of, "Do you sleep?"
I also use this option to schedule future emails that need to be sent ahead of time. For example, if I have an upcoming event that I am wanting to promote and need to get out ASAP, I simply write up an email, attach the invitation, schedule the date and time that I want the email to be sent out and just like that, I'm ahead of the game!
The BOOMERANG option
Last, the BOOMERANG option is a feature that I absolutely love! With all the emails, alerts, reminders, calendar invites etc., this option allows me the opportunity to prioritize my most important emails by bringing certain emails back into my inbox (aka boomerang) at a certain time or day to revisit. LIFE CHANGER MOMENT!
So now that Boomerang is in my life, emails are finally taken care of, recipients are happy and my inbox is finally under control.
I'd dare to even say that a balance now exists and time has been put back into my pocket to tend to the more important things in life- like dropping my son off at school.
Life is grand once again.
Your #1 fan,
Videos for Reference
Direct Link
