Kill Email Anxiety and Do More Meaningful Work with Jocelyn K. Glei - a podcast by Mark McGuinness

This week's guest on the 21st Century Creative Podcast is Jocelyn K. Glei, Founding Editor of 99U, author of Unsubscribe: How to Kill Email Anxiety, Avoid Distractions, and Get Real Work Done, and host of the Hurry Slowly podcast.









Jocelyn was instrumental in turning 99U into the iconic brand for creatives it is today - editing the magazine site 99U.com and the series of 99U books for creatives, and helping the team create the amazing 99U Conferences in New York.



In this interview, Jocelyn talks about the psychology of email - why such a convenient form of communication has become such a drain on our creativity and productivity, and how to reclaim time and headspace for real work.



And as we discovered in the course of the conversation, most of the advice in Unsubscribe is applicable beyond your inbox - the principles of email management can help you get your creative work done amid the daily whirlwind of news, social media and other distractions.



As well as reading the book, you can follow Jocelyn's thinking on her website and on Twitter.



In the first part of the show, I talk about the four types of work we can spend our time on - and which one creates the most long-term benefits for your creative career.







Take Jocelyn's Creative Challenge (and win a copy of Unsubscribe)



Every week, at the end of the show, I ask my guest to set you a Creative Challenge - something practical you can do that will help you put the ideas from the show into action.



Here's how you can take part - and maybe win the prize of a copy of Jocelyn's book Unsubscribe, which teaches you the seven essential questions that will allow you to become a better coach and influencer in your daily conversations at work.



1. Listen to the interview part of the show, either in the player above or on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform.



2. The challenge is to check and answer your email in batches - about 2 or 3 batches each day.



So this means closing email in your browser and disabling it on your phone, so you can’t just check it with the click of a mouse or the swipe of a finger.



Decide in advance when and for how long you’re going to check your email - Jocelyn recommends about 20-30 minutes at a time, and focusing 100% on email during this time, so you get it done faster.



If you have VIPs in your life who NEED to be able to contact you urgently, make arrangements for them to be able to do this - either by switching on VIP email alert in your phone, or asking them to text or phone you with any urgent messages, instead of emailing these.





3. Once you've completed the challenge, leave a comment below this post describing how you get on.



You have until midnight United States Pacific time on Friday 14th July 2017 to complete the challenge and leave your comment.



4. Once the challenge has finished, I will pick 3 winners at random from the comments, who will receive the prize of Jocelyn's book Unsubscribe.



5. Over the weekend I will send a bonus recording with my feedback on your comments and what we can all learn from the challenge. I'll be looking through the comments for common patterns, whether that's ways a lot of you get stuck, or great solutions you're finding to the challenge. I'll also be sharing reflections and advice from my own experience as a coach.



6. As usual the feedback recording will NOT be released on iTunes or anywhere else the show is syndicated. It will only be available via the 21st Century Creative mailing list - click here to join the list (and get a free Creative Career course).



One last thing...



If you're enjoying the show it would be a huge help to me if you would take a moment to ...

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