In Entourage the “control + k” command sends/receives e-mail. It is an amazingly seductive little keystroke. You’re working on a report – its long, detailed, you’re having to engage your brain for a period of time longer than five seconds – hit “control + k” and you have the ultimate procrastination device. New e-mail. Once there are five e-mails in your inbox you now have the perfect excuse to distract yourself. You open them one by one. Skim their contents and take no actions. They sit there as part of your psychological horizon whispering little reminders to you as you get back to the report. Then five minutes later, the same thing. “I think its time for ‘control + k’,” you say.Nothing is worse for personal productivity than repeatedly checkin your e-mail. Its like trying to dig a hole in sand – the more you dig, the more sand slides to the bottom of the hole. Read a post about this here. Try increasing the send/receive interval slowly, but surely. If it is set for 1 minute, move it to 5 minutes, then 10, then 30. Mine is currently set for every hour. Of course, a lot of this depends on where you work. Increasing the interval for send/receive will clear your mind and help you to be more productive.
think deeply • see differently • act faithfully
Jeff Gissing 