By Mandy Green, University of South Dakota
I have been getting a lot of emails lately from coaches who are realizing that they waste a lot of time during the course of their day looking at and responding to emails. They are looking for tips to help them organize their day and get their email under control.
The first step should be to set up an email plan or routine for when they first get into the office. I start with the morning routine because I have found that what you decide to do with your email during the first 30 minutes, can make or break how productive you are throughout the entire day.
A lot of time management gurus will tell you that you should not open your email first thing in the morning. I understand why they advise against it, but I also understand how much coaches rely on email. It is a vital part of contacting recruits, communicating with their staff and team, making plans for camp, and for other administrative purposes. I truly believe that as long as you are using your email in a productive way, it can be an effective tool that will help you get a lot of work done.
I have tried A LOT of different ways to get off to a good start. After a lot of trial and error, this is how I am currently using email during the first 30 minutes of arriving in my office. This is also the framework I am using to help other coaches get a better start to their day as well…
Before I look at my inbox, I send off a quick email reaching out to connect or express my gratitude to at least one person. It could be a coach, a parent, somebody who works at the school, etc. It really has been amazing to see how sending out this one quick email has helped with my recruiting or with building relationships with other people on campus.
Second, I send a to-do list email to each of my assistants which I started to prepare the night before. I find that my staff appreciates me sending out just one email of what I want them to do for the day. I send this email first thing rather than sending multiple emails throughout the day or stopping every time something new comes up. It requires me to be a lot more organized but it gets them started and they don’t have to waste time reading multiple to-do messages from me. They don’t have to deal with me constantly interrupting them, and I don’t have to deal with them coming in looking for things to do…it saves us all a lot of time.
Third, I actually look at my inbox and do one of these four things with my emails: I will forward it, categorize it, respond to it, or I will delete it.
- Forward it – I go through my inbox and forward to my assistants any emails that pertain to their responsibilities. Once I forward it, I delete it to clear out my inbox.
- Categorize it -as you may know by now if you have read any of my articles or my Green Time Management For Coaches Workbook, I am big on time blocking. I block off 30, 60 or 90 minutes of time during the day where I focus on doing nothing but recruiting, administrative duties, or team tasks. For each email in my inbox, it gets assigned to a category folder and will get worked on during the block of time that I have assigned for it. I have found that I save an incredible amount of time doing like tasks together instead of randomly jumping around from one item to the next.
- Respond to it – I will respond to email if I can give a quick response in under two minutes or spend the time gathering needed information to complete the task.
- Delete it. Self-explanatory. It is probably junk and I don’t need to waste time reading it.
This process takes me about 30 minutes. It is amazing how much I can get off my plate by going through emails this way first thing in the morning. It is at this point that I shut down my email until I am in my assigned block of time.
I have been setting up my days this way for quite a while now and have really loved the results. I have spent the last four years creating a college coach specific Day Planner and a Time Management Workbook to go with it. If you would like me to help you get the same results or want to look at the Planner and Workbook check out my website at www.mandygreencps.com or email me at mandy@mandygreencps.com .
Mandy Green is a frequent contributor to College Recruiting Weekly, and is a Division I head soccer coach. Coaches around the country know her as a premier expert on organization and coaching, and she is the developer of the Green Time Management System College Coaches.