The 4-Hour Workweek

Tim Ferriss has been getting a lot of press recently for his intriguingly titled book The 4-Hour Workweek. While some of his suggestions don't resonate with my personal ethic, the following excerpt from an Arizona Republic interview is food for thought.

The defining characteristic of top performers Ferriss interviewed in more than 20 countries was the ability to single task, completing mission-critical tasks start to finish without interruption. It's critically important to limit e-mail, BlackBerry use, etc., so you can focus on output. Ferriss checks his
business e-mail once every 10 to 14 days. He has an assistant filter his e-mail and call him each evening if there is something he needs to respond to. He uses an auto responder to set expectations about his personal e-mail.

For the rest of us, he recommends checking e-mail only before lunch and an hour before quitting time and creating a template response such as this:

Greetings:

Due to a high workload, I am currently checking and responding to e-mail twice daily at 12 p.m. ET (or your time zone) and 4 p.m. ET.

If you require urgent assistant (please ensure it is urgent) that cannot wait until either 12 p.m. or 4 p.m. please contact me via phone at 555-555-5555.

Thank you for understanding this move to more efficiency and effectiveness. If helps me accomplish more to serve you better.

Sincerely,

(Your name)

I find his template a bit abrupt and off-putting, but agree with the general idea. Edit to make it work for you.