Sadly, in many organizations, processing email is considered productive time. When processing email is considered as valuable as addressing issues, making decisions, and coaching others to success, leaders and team members feel self-satisfied by spending their time reading and responding to email.
In fact, in some organizations, leaders and team members count it as a highly productive day when the bulk of their day is spent with their inbox. Even if don’t engage anyone in conversation or discussion, they feel emptying their inbox counts as a fulfilling day. From the outside, this looks and sounds ridiculous, yet this is the reality for way too many leaders.
No doubt clearing the inbox gives leaders a sense of accomplishment and a shot of dopamine. It feels fabulous to have wiped the inbox clean. Being highly responsive to others is also a value fulfilled by this attention.
To be clear, processing emails is not the problem. But with so many emails to process and respond to, what does it mean for leaders to spend the bulk of the day doing so? If given the choice between acts of leadership (such as coaching others, offering critical feedback in meetings, and building relationships) and processing email, good leaders choose leadership, not busywork.
They set aside time to process emails, but spend the majority of their time making situations and people better. They view emails as a necessary task that requires more of their attention than it should, but refuse to allow them to take up the lion’s share of their day. If you know a leader who treats processing emails as the highest and best use of their time, please remind them what leadership is really all about.
Email overload is all too real for many leaders. But setting boundaries regarding when to check your inbox and how much time you’re willing to commit to do so is essential for fighting overload. Consider mastering the use of email filters and templates to assist in your effort.
The bottom line is that processing emails is important, but not nearly as critical as the roles and responsibilities of leadership. How you spend your time defines who you are as a leader. Never confuse a required activity for productivity. Make a better choice.
