Make Good Art
Recently I revisited one of my favorite books, “Make Good Art” by Neil Gaiman. It’s a quick read, a pleasure to look at and hold, and contains some great advice and perspective on what it takes to make good art. Business is definitely an art, and I’ve written several articles exploring ideas from his book as reminders and inspiration. I hope you enjoy them.
Warmly,
Kris
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Make Good Art – Professional Email Answerer
As a business owner, there are a lot of things vying for your attention. Some days it’s easy to see what to do next; other days you’re lucky if you can even figure out where to start.
Call clients back, do proactive marketing, have lunch or coffee with referral partners, follow up on leads from that networking event – these are just some of the things on your to do list.
However, what do you often end up spending your time on? I mean, if we’re really telling the truth? Email. Answering email, organizing email, scanning to see what new emails have come in since the last time you checked, making cute folders to keep your email neat and tidy.
One of my favorite authors is Neil Gaiman, who knows this trap well. In his speech, “Make Good Art,” he says: “There was a day when I looked up and realized that I had become someone who professionally replied to email, and who wrote as a hobby.”
That’s when it occurred to me that Neil and I had something in common, as I have been guilty of the same thing. It was like Neil Gaiman and I were the same person!
He goes on to say: “I started answering fewer emails, and was relieved to find I was writing much more.”
What a revelation – I could answer fewer emails. Or let email take up less space in my brain. Or corral it into certain times and parts of my day. OR hire someone to do it for me – wow.
Email is a great invention of our modern age, allowing us to communicate in a way we never could before. In my business, though, and yours too, I suspect, it can become something more than just a communication medium. It’s often more like an evil task master, and that’s no fun.
If you can relate to what I’m saying, ask yourself what you’d like to do about you and your email. There is no shortage of email advice out there, and you may benefit from reading up on it. The fastest path to email relief, however, may be to gently redefine your role as Ruler of Your Business Kingdom and start answering fewer emails, only to find you’re making good business much more.
