Why the Non-Color-related Blog entry? Because it's important! And it explains why I haven't been able to make more blog entries lately.
This cartoon is me: eating in front of the computer, working on Photoshop while talking on the phone and surfing the 'net. Great. Not very productive. I'm old enough to remember a Time Before E-mail and Cell Phones. Scary, I know.

How long has it been since you just spoke to someone on the phone without doing something else at the same time?
How many unread e-mails do you have sitting in your in-box at this moment? 10? 20? 50? 100? Are you a multitasker trying to do it all at once? STOP now! I have more than 50 that I need to answer. Apparently that number is low compared to many other people.
I was looking for a way to make the other folk's e-mails easier to handle (Beside my Gmail categories) and to also let certain people know that regularly send me really L o n g e-mails that there is a BETTER way.
Eureka! It's explained succinctly on this blog. And check out some tips about e-mail productivity in "Singletasking" , another blog by a really smart dude named Matthew Brent.

This is not a new concept but I am really trying to embrace it and have done it for a while without knowing it. What does this mean? I turn off my cell phone when I'm playing taiko, at the doctor's office, at a meeting with a client, or in my art studio. Why? I'm MORE focused on the work I'm supposed to be doing when I don't have friends and relatives calling just to chat about "stuff". It's also really rude to answer the phone when you are engaged with other people and should be focusing your attention on them. The phone MUST come second, the PERSON in front of you MUST come first. Just remember this rule of thumb: real people come before e-mails and phone calls.
And guess what! All of those so-called "social networking websites" (My Space, Face Book, Pulse, etc. ) are actually e-mail twice or thrice removed, so they deserve even LESS ATTENTION than regular e-mail. Why? They take MORE STEPS to actually communicate with people than a regular e-mail. So they are really not that great of a way to keep in touch.
E-mail is wonderful especially when you can e-mail someone really late at night in another time zone or other country and not disturb them. Or pay for the massively overpriced phone call. Of course there is SKYPE....that's another story. (And an awesome service BTW). So.....remember: use e-mail wisely and remember that your recipient might already be overwhelmed with e-mails! So keep it short and to the point! Ciao bella, reb