The Benefits of Next Action and Due Date Columns in Managing Interrupted Work

The Benefits of Next Action and Due Date Columns in Managing Interrupted Work by Michael Hoffman Introduction Interruptions are a common occurrence in today’s work environment, with negative effects on productivity, stress levels, and quality of work. Numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of interruptions, leading to the development of various systems to help […]
Mastering Productivity: How Prioritizing Important Emails Over Quantity Can Actually Boost Your Efficiency

Mastering Productivity: How Prioritizing Important Emails Over Quantity Can Actually Boost Your Efficiency by Michael Hoffman 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 […]
Let’s stop taking an ad-hoc approach to email. And let’s do it intentionally.

Let’s stop taking an ad-hoc approach to email. Let’s do it intentionally. by Michael Hoffman Here’s the thing. When we enter our inbox without a fixed procedure, we are immediately faced with dozens of options regarding how we are going to manage our email. While options sound like a good thing to have, they are extremely […]
How to Save and Archive Documents Like a Pro

How To Save and Archive Documents Like A Pro by Michael Hoffman If you look up how to save a file in Google, you will get this: Follow these steps to save a document as a separate version: Select File> Save As. In the Save As dialog box, ensure that the Version option is selected. … In the Description field, enter information about the content that has changed […]
LeanMail 5.1 Has Arrived

LeanMail 5.1 has arrived! by Michael Hoffman LeanMail 5.1 marks a major breakthrough in our development. It is our first version with our new Danish team of developers. They have gone through the code to smash literally dozens of small bugs to create a sleeker more dependable LeanMail Add-in. Also, LeanMail is now much easier to […]
The LeanMail Mobile App is BACK!

The LeanMail Mobile App is BACK! by Michael Hoffman Organize your email by priority and urgency and archive all your emails to one “smart” folder using categories. This companion to LeanMail for Outlook is a game changer! LeanMail mobile is an application that makes managing email in Microsoft Outlook effective and efficient. It gives you control […]
6 Reasons Why You Should Not Implement LeanMail In Your Organization

6 Reasons Why You Should Not Implement LeanMail In Your Organization by Michael Hoffman 1. Email management solutions are basically digital paper shuffler. Myth: LeanMail probably organizes email and adds more bureaucracy to an already bureaucratic process. I have enough add-ins my kitchen drawer already. Myth Buster: LeanMail is not an organizer — though it will help you become more organized. […]
9 Tips for Working from Home

9 Tips Working From Home by Michael Hoffman There are oodles of tips on the Net for working from home. Here is a compact version. 1. Create a morning and closing routine Routines are important because they prime us for jumping into our work and help us transition back to our personal life, respectively. There are […]
How to squeeze more out of your employees – and have them thank you for it.

How to squeeze more out of your employees – and have them thank you for it by Michael Hoffman No one cares about how well employees manage their inbox. Not the leadership. Not employees themselves. But here is why everyone should: Fixing it will take two hours. Keeping it fixed, another two hours over a couple […]
Errors that LeanMail novices make in the planning step

Errors that LeanMail novices make in the planning step by Michael Hoffman Follow-up; Read; Read and revert; Call; are a few of the typical entries that many LeanMail novices write as Next Actions. At the time you write them, they make perfect sense because at that particular moment you were immersed in the details of what it was you were supposed to do. […]
Politically Correct or Upstanding?

Politically Correct or Upstanding? by Michael Hoffman There are two reasons why I think it’s high time we traded the term “politically correct” with the something else. The first reason is because over the years “politically correct” has been stigmatized as being negative and heavy instead of righteous and observant of personal values and ethics. Less informed people shun being […]
How to Run an Effective Daily Stand-up Meeting

How to Run an Effective Daily Stand-Up Meeting by Michael Hoffman I was recently requested to suggest how to run an effective daily stand-up meeting. It dawned on me that we had not articulated the process in our own company so all the more reason to explicitly formulate this important morning staple. The Goal The goal […]