I heard a tip recently while listening to a Dale Carnegie training CD that has increased my efficiency at work. He told of a man who was frustrated because he couldn’t keep up and get his work done. He went to visit his manager for help. While he waited for his manager, he observed the way he worked. He received phone calls and dealt with the issue presented right then. He didn’t write it down to deal with it later. The man returned to his office and implemented this change. As a result, he was able to manage his work and not leave at the end of the day with stacks of issues to deal with the next day.

I know that time management programs recommend touching items only once, but I really didn’t think that was possible for me. When I reviewed e-mail, if the task was going to take more than a couple of minutes to complete, I would mark the e-mail as “unread” and save it for later. However, later often came days or sometimes even weeks later. A couple of weeks ago I began to implement this change in handling e-mail. There are some issues that can’t be completed immediately, but I have found that most items can be.

Now I have very few unread e-mails that need my attention. I don’t have the feeling of being behind with my work all the time, or that “out of control” feeling I experience when I know there are so many things in those unread e-mails that I couldn’t begin to remember them.

What change have you made recently that has helped you to live your fullest life?