Recently, our marketing system faced a challenge when one of our interns accidentally sent over a thousand emails to customers when he only intended to send one. This mistake could have resulted in significant damage to our company's reputation and customer trust. However, instead of simply blaming the intern for the mistake, we took a step back and examined our marketing system using a combination of Deming and Lean principles.

Firstly, we identified that our instructions lacked clarity and that our software needed better safeguards. After a thorough review of the marketing system, we realized that the intern missed a critical step while sending the email, which led to the mistake. The instructions failed to mention that the intern should check if the software was set to send the email to all subscribers instead of just the intended recipient. Additionally, our software didn't have adequate safeguards in place to prevent such a mistake from happening.

Next, we applied Deming's...

Are you looking to improve your team’s productivity and achieve better results? Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) can be a powerful tool to help you align your goals and focus your efforts. However, creating effective OKRs can be challenging, especially if you’re new to the process. In this article, we’ll share our top 10 dos and don’ts for creating successful OKRs. By following these guidelines, you can create goals that are clear, specific, measurable, and motivating, and help your team achieve its full potential.

Here is a list of OKR dos and don’ts to help you create effective Objectives and Key Results: 

Dos: 

1. DO align your OKRs with your company’s mission and strategy
2. DO make sure that your Objectives are clear, specific, and challenging
3. DO ensure that your Key Results are measurable, specific, and attainable
4. DO prioritize your Objectives and Key Results based on importance and urgency
5. DO regularly track your progress and update...

What Are the Right Buckets For Email And Does It Really Matter?

 From watching this YouTube video, BEST Way to Organize Gmail, it would be easy to believe the author’s argument that email generally falls into three categories: Follow-up; Awaiting response; Need to read.

Perhaps they do, but you could just as well organize them by:

• Sender or source, such as: Client; Team; Project
• Timeframe, such as: Today; This week; This month
• Status or stage, such as: To Do; In Progress; Done

 While dividing emails into buckets can be helpful for managing your workload and staying organized, it's important to recognize that simply creating buckets is not a substitute for taking real action on your emails. In other words, creating the right buckets is just the first step towards being productive with your email.

In all the examples above, the buckets or folders are based on a factor other than the urgency and importance of the task it represents. Dividing emails into the categories...

As we go through life, we’re often reminded that time is a precious commodity. It’s something we can never get back, and once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. For many of us, the realization that we’re only here for a limited time can be daunting, especially as we get older.

Today I turn 61. As a sexagenarian, I’ve reached a milestone that many people consider to be the start of their golden years. But for me, it’s a reminder that I’ve already lived at least two-thirds of my life. That means I probably have around 1,042 weeks left, at most, to live my life to the fullest. It might sound like a lot, but when you consider how fast time seems to fly by, it’s not that much at all.

And let’s face it, my days of any real productiveness will probably cease by the time I’m 80. Of course, that’s not to say that life after 80 can’t be fulfilling and enjoyable in its own right. But for many of us, the thought of slowing...

Executive Summary: Email overload is a common issue that affects productivity and causes stress for many professionals. In today’s fast-paced business environment, managing email effectively is essential to ensure efficient communication, collaboration, and information sharing. LeanMail is a comprehensive email management solution designed to help users optimize their email workflow and minimize the impact of email overload. This white paper provides an overview of the key features and benefits of LeanMail and demonstrates how it can help users achieve better email management and boost productivity. 

Introduction: Email is one of the most widely used communication tools in business today. However, it is also one of the biggest sources of distraction and time-wasting. Managing email effectively can be a challenge, particularly when the volume of emails received each day is high. To address this challenge, LeanMail provides a comprehensive solution that allows...

Working by priority and then by urgency, using the Eisenhower or Stephen Covey quadrant method, is the best way to manage your email because it helps you focus on the most important and urgent tasks first. This method is based on the idea that tasks can be divided into four categories: important and urgent, important but not urgent, not important but urgent, and not important and not urgent. 

By sorting your emails into these categories, you can prioritize the tasks that are most important and urgent, while putting less important or less urgent tasks on hold. This can help you to be more productive and efficient with your time, and to focus on the tasks that will have the greatest impact on your work or personal life. 

Here are a few examples of how you can use the Eisenhower or Stephen Covey quadrant method to manage your emails: 

1. Prioritizing important and urgent emails: These are emails that require immediate attention and have a direct impact on your work or...

You’d think with all the complaining one hears about email that someone would ask for help in managing their inbox.  But they don’t. There are several reasons why people don’t search for or are uninterested in a solution for managing their email better.  Here are five of them. 

1. Habits and Comfort: Some people may have been using Outlook for years and are comfortable with the way it works, making them resistant to change.
   
   
2. Lack of Awareness: Many people may not be aware of alternative email management methods or tools that could improve their workflow in Outlook.
   
   
3. Underestimation of the Problem: Some individuals may not fully realize the impact that poor email management can have on their productivity, so they don’t feel the need to change their approach.
   
   
4. Fear of Change: Adopting a new method for managing email can be intimidating, especially for those who are already overwhelmed by their inbox.
   
   
5. Overreliance on Default Tools:...

Many people blame their inability to respond in a timely manner on the demands of their job. But the truth is that the real reason they’re struggling is because they’re not managing their email well. 

One of the biggest culprits is Outlook, the most widely used email client in the world. Despite its popularity, Outlook is not designed for the way we work today. It’s cluttered, hard to navigate, and does not provide the tools we need to manage our email efficiently. As a result, people spend hours a day sifting through their inbox, trying to find the information they need. 

This is where LeanMail comes in. We’ve developed a method for managing email that is based on the principles of Lean Thinking. Our method is designed to help you reduce the amount of time you spend managing your email, so you can focus on the things that matter. 

Our software, LeanMail, is specifically designed for Outlook users. It provides a simple and elegant solution to...

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that being productive means getting a lot of email done. Many of us spend hours every day responding to emails, sorting through our inbox, and sending out quick replies just to clear the backlog. But what if all that time spent on email is actually making us less productive in the long run? 

The truth is, not all emails are created equal. Some are easy to deal with and require a quick response, while others require more thought and consideration. The problem is that we often prioritize the easy emails over the important ones, thinking that we’re being productive by clearing our inbox as quickly as possible. 

The reality is that focusing on the easy emails is a form of procrastination. It’s easier to deal with the emails that require a quick response than to tackle the more complex ones that require more time and effort. But by doing so, we’re neglecting the emails that are actually important and need...

Getting to inbox zero every day is more than just a simple email management task; it has several psychological benefits that can greatly improve your overall well-being and productivity. By reaching inbox zero every day, you can:

1. Maintain motivation: Reaching inbox zero every day can help you maintain your motivation and enthusiasm for email management, making it easier to sustain the habit over time.
2. Reduced Stress: An overflowing inbox can cause stress and anxiety, but having an empty inbox every day can help reduce that stress and allow you to focus on other tasks.
3. Improved Focus: When your inbox is empty, you can focus on the tasks at hand without being distracted by incoming emails.
4. Increased Sense of Control: By processing emails and getting to inbox zero, you are taking control of your inbox and demonstrating mastery over your email communication. This can help you feel more in control and less overwhelmed.
5. Better Time Management: By processing emails daily, you can ensure...