Use the ‘OHIO’ Method to Manage Your Endless Tasks and Messages
When you’re going through all the emails, Slack messages, and other notifications you receive during an average day, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. When this happens, you may become distracted and miss important messages. At least that’s what happens to me, unless I have a plan in place.
There are several different approaches you can consider to avoid this, but the “OHIO” technique is the one to try if you need additional help making a decision. It’s important to note, however, that while it can alleviate your decision paralysis, it does have some limitations that are worth considering.
What is the OHIO method of time management?
OHIO is the acronym for “Only Handle It Once” and you’ll hear it come up in various productivity-based conversations, like those around tidying up. Proponents say it helps you avoid unnecessary dawdles, delays, and indecision because it forces you to handle any task, email, message, or assignment just once. It’s definitely a habit you need to get into, but it’s a habit that pays off the more you work at it.
You can apply it broadly to what you’re working on by assessing your entire inbox, to-do list, or other group of tasks at once. Prioritize tasks in order of importance using a system like the Eisenhower Matrix or ABC method. (If the workload isn’t too complex, feel free to quickly prioritize them yourself without a fancy system, but I’m a big fan of customizing hyper-specific productivity techniques to meet my needs.) Then take immediate action on each one, starting at the top. Either delete them, or delegate them, do what they say, or postpone them, thanks to the 4D method.
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The OHIO method and emails
The OHIO method also works great for email, but it can waste your time if you’re not careful. Dealing with each email only once is a solid way to not spend too much time on it, but you need to plan what you’re going to do. Otherwise, you risk ending up clicking on every new email you receive and trying to manage it in real time.
Emails are harder to prioritize than a to-do list, so you may have difficulty determining which one you should start on first. Instead of implementing the OHIO method every moment, set aside time each morning and afternoon to go through your messages and, of course, only deal with them once. (You can use time boxing and time blocking to make sure you get it done at the same time every day, as well as a 3-3-3 task list to make sure you have time to prioritize the task.) Try half an hour at the start of your work day, half an hour after lunch, and 15 minutes right before you clock out. If you base your approach on time rather than a list of priorities, you’ll still be able to open each message and manage it, but you won’t be overwhelmed by having to do it every time you receive a new alert.
