For small business owners, email is a blessing and a curse.
Your inbox is likely a place that could contain exciting opportunities (they said “yes” to my pitch!) as well as time-consuming, but necessary tasks (please fill out this 40-page form to renew your worker’s comp insurance) that distract us from our highest and most valuable work.
That’s why I believe that the person who checks their email last wins.
There are certainly situations when diving into email early gives you a strategic advantage because your most valuable work hinges on a response from someone, but as a rule, I find it much more valuable to ensure MY priorities are firmly established before I let the desires of others impede my progress.Here are three things I do every day before I crack open my email…
Get out of bed. I’m a big believer in getting out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off. I don’t immediately check my email and find myself flooded with other people’s priorities within seconds of regaining consciousness. In fact, I don’t even touch my phone. I just get up and start MY day. (I also don’t crank out two hours of work at 6AM. I just take a walk, read for a bit, chat with my family before they leave the house, and do a sudoku puzzle…)
Review MY goals and choose how I will allocate my time today. I keep a list of my priorities in a Google Doc that I review every morning as part of my Workday Startup – before I check my email – to ensure that I am reminded of the highest use of my time, energy, and focus, before everyone else has a chance to insinuate themselves into my day.
Organize my workspace and prepare my tools. Once I’ve oriented myself to the work that matters most I scan my environment for two things: the tools I will need and any distractions that are present. I then clear the decks of anything that is likely to vie for my attention while I’m working and collect any tools necessary to do the work.Which one of these feels like it would benefit you the most to implement?

If you are feeling overwhelmed as a small business owner, download my free Anti-Overwhelm Playbook today. It will help you find the clarity and direction you need to overcome overwhelm and cancel the chaos so you can build your business with complete clarity.