Who's the boss? Are you the boss of your inbox?

Have you ever caught yourself spending half an hour managing incoming emails instead of focusing on why you sat down at the computer in the first place?

I've met leaders who are doing a great job, yet there have been times when incoming emails reshaped their day or even dictated it.

It happened out of a sense of compliance.

I decide what's important and urgent, or do I delegate this decision to those who have emailed me? In the latter case, their goals will prevail over mine.

In his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey mentions the Eisenhower Matrix, named after the famously effective David Eisenhower.

The matrix is a useful tool, but first, we must grapple with determining what is truly important and what is urgent.

If there's order in this, that's already half the battle.

"What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important." (David Eisenhower)