Do you dread hitting the office every morning only to see how many new emails you’ve received in just one night? Do you wonder how you’ll ever be able to get your work done and respond to all of those messages? We have a tip for you: stop letting email guide your work and progress for the day, and start your morning off on the right foot instead.

Before you start checking your inbox, try to resist the siren call of email and get one high priority task or project crossed of your list.  This will ensure that your work is proactive instead of reactive. If you begin your day with your email, you are pushing your important tasks aside in favor of reacting to new things coming in. If you really want to be productive, wait to review your email until you’ve made progress on your task. Then by all means, dive right in!

When are you best able to focus on big projects? We want to know!