My #1 goal in these workshops is to show coaches that there is an easier and more efficient way to work through the thousands of items on coach’s to-do lists. 

3 Daily Questions to Take Control of Your Email

3 Daily Questions to Take Control of Your Email 

A few days ago, I was on a campus working with an athletic department doing a Busy Coach Workshop.   

My #1 goal in these workshops is to show coaches that there is an easier and more efficient way to work through the thousands of items on coach’s to-do lists.     

Today I want to walk you through one of the strategies that I walk coaches through in these workshops.   

So, here is my tip for today.  

Before you dive into your to-do list, I always want you to ask yourself this question.  “What is the one thing I could do right now, today, that would help me achieve all of this faster, easier, and more efficiently?”  

For example, let’s apply this too your email.  

Throughout my 23 years as a coach, email was a big problem for me.  I really needed to take a step back and figure out how to not be so consumed by my email.   

I needed to figure out how to be more intentional with how I was using email instead of feeling compelled to check it every 10 minutes.  This bad habit I had gotten myself into was eating up a ton of my day, had me reacting to things, and it was taking me from focusing on the big work that could help me build my program faster. 

I ended up coming up with 3 daily questions that I could proactively answer that would put me more in control of my email.    

  1. Who is a Person/People I need to Lead or Connect with Today (and How to Do It Well). For example, what club coach can I reach out to today and develop a better relationship with that could potentially help me with recruiting quality student-athletes to my program?  Or, what person on campus could I reach out to today to introduce myself or to thank them for helping me with something?   
  2. What or Who Am I Waiting on To Get a Project Done:Take a look at your to-do list.  What information will you need to get from somebody to complete the task.  Reach out at the beginning of the day to give them time to get you what you need.  Don’t wait until the fire happens.    
  3. Who Needs Something from Me Today or This Week That I Can Proactively Get to Them? Again, don’t wait until the fire happens.  Think ahead.  Who is going to need something from you this coming week that you can proactively get to them before they even ask for it.  

When I planned these things the night before and then started my day intentionally getting these emails out, a few key things happened: 

  • I was able to reduce the amount of last minute “I need something urgent from you messages.   
  • I also didn’t have to rush around asking for last minute things that I was still waiting for from other people. 
  • Sending 1 email to connect helped me expand my network, made it easier to get referrals, and I had people on campus going the extra mile for me when I had recruits on campus because I expressed gratitude for something that they had helped me with.   

The answer to my email problem was simple, but I would not have come up with it had I not asked myself “What is the one thing I could do right now, today, that would help me achieve all of this faster, easier, and more efficiently?”  

There are a ton of things you can and should apply this to.   I am here to help if you want to walk through what these things would be for you.    

Try it and let me know how it goes.   

If you want prompts to walk you through these types of questions every day, keep an eye out for my new 90 day performance planner for coaches that will be released soon.     

To your success,  

Mandy Green 

I created a Free College Coach Master To-Do List resource to help you get more PRODUCTIVE and BETTER ORGANIZED.