Most of us check email first thing. But that habit can hand your best hours to other people’s priorities.
Mark stopped doing it years ago. Email is usually someone else’s demand on someone else’s timeframe, so opening it first means you start the day reacting. Do your most important work first and you finish the day knowing you’ve done what matters.
If you often get to the end of the day shattered without touching your real priorities, this short video covers a simple habit change that could help.
Quick Takeaways
- Email is other people’s priorities, on their timeframe. Opening it first means reacting to demands before you’ve worked on your own.
- Mornings are often your sharpest hours. Protect them for the work that matters.
- Use “check and defer”. A quick glance, and a ten-second decision on whether anything is truly urgent.
- Switch off notifications and sound. It’s far easier to leave email alone when nothing is pinging at you.
- Replying later isn’t ignoring people. Most emails can wait for an afternoon reply or a short holding response.
Your sharpest hours are worth protecting
Mornings tend to be when you’re at your sharpest. Open your inbox first and you hand that time to whoever emailed overnight.
The important work then slides to later in the day, when you’re more likely to be tired, distracted or just not in the mood to do it justice.
A simple way to handle email later
The important work happens first. Email waits. Here’s how Mark does it:
- Have a very quick glance at your inbox. It’s not a deep dive, just a scan for anything genuinely urgent.
- Make a fast decision. Ten seconds is usually enough to spot whether something needs attention now.
- If nothing’s critical, move on. Forget about the inbox and get on with your priority tasks.
- Switch off notifications and sound. No pings, no alert tones, nothing pulling you back.
Replies still happen, usually in the afternoon, or as a short holding response saying you’re looking into it. Email isn’t going anywhere. The difference is choosing when you deal with it.
If you want to protect your mornings further, time blocking your calendar is worth a look. And if you use Microsoft 365, Microsoft Learn has guidance on focus time.
Try it for a week and see what’s done by lunchtime.
Frequently asked questions
Turning off email notifications and sound alerts removes the temptation to react the moment something lands. Combine this with a set time to check your inbox, rather than checking throughout the day, so you can decide when to engage with email rather than letting it interrupt your focus.
No. Most emails can be answered later in the day without causing any real problem. A short holding response, confirming you’ve seen the message and are looking into it, is usually enough if something needs acknowledging quickly.
There’s no single rule, but limiting yourself to set points in the day, rather than reacting to every notification, helps you stay in control of your time. A quick scan for anything urgent, followed by a longer, dedicated slot to respond properly, is a practical starting point.
Removing visual and audio alerts stops your attention being pulled away from focused work. Without notifications prompting you, checking email becomes a deliberate choice rather than an automatic reaction, which supports longer, more uninterrupted periods of concentration.
About Mark Pullar
Mark Pullar is the founder of All My Systems, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 consultancy based in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. He has 25 years’ experience in IT and senior management, holds an MSc in Information Systems Management, and is a Microsoft Certified Professional in Dynamics 365. Mark set up All My Systems in 2014 to bring proper business systems to small and medium sized companies, and he shares practical lessons on productivity and running a business along the way. Read more about Mark’s story and how All My Systems began.