FS 307: Dealing with Inbound Communications

Panel:

• Jonathan Stark
• Erik Dietrich

In this episode of the Freelancers’ Show, the panelists discuss dealing with inbound communications, what to do if you’re getting too much and what to do if you’re not getting enough. They talk about how difficult it is to manage inbound communication, especially when there is a large amount coming in, the difference between using slack and email, and Gmail plugins to help organize incoming emails. They also touch on triaging your inbox, being honest with yourself as to what you actually will do on your to-do list, and more! In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

• Getting too much inbound communication VS not enough
• Needing better ways to manage inbound communication
• Very difficult to manage when there is a lot coming in
• Do you mean just email or multiple channels?
• What are your channels of inbound communication?
• Working on ways to optimize
• Moving urgent client communication to Slack
• The difference between Slack and Email
• Declaring email bankruptcy
• The ability to ignore email inbox
• Gmail plugins to help
• Buffering emails
• Only checking slack for paying customers
• Go in once a day to clean up your incoming communication
• Not knowing an email is there VS strenuously trying to avoid it
• The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
• Getting Things Done – David Allen
• Triaging your inbox
• Only focus on the urgent to-dos
• Be honest with yourself so your to do list doesn’t get too long
• If you don’t feel the need to get to it within a week, it’s not that important
• Suffering from inbox overload
• To get less email, you can respond less frequently 
• And much, much more!

Links:

• The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
• Getting Things Done – David Allen

Sponsors:

• FreshBooks
• Linode

Picks: Jonathan

• Calendly
• Guide to Winning Clients by David A. Fields
• The Pricing Seminar

Erik

• Getting Things Done
• SiteGround
• Calendly