Use the Ohio Method to Manage Endless Tasks and Messages

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when scrolling through endless emails, Slack messages, and other notifications. When this happens, it’s best to develop a strategy. There are a few different ways to approach this, but you need to find one that works for you, and the Ohio Method is worth a try if you need that extra push to be decisive and fast. However, this has limitations.

What is the method for managing incoming messages in Ohio?

Ohio is an acronym for “Just Handle It Once.” Proponents say it helps you avoid unnecessary slowness, delays, and indecision by requiring you to process any task, email, message, or assignment only once.

Apply it to what you’re working on as a whole, assessing your entire inbox, to-do list, or other group of tasks at once. Prioritize tasks in order of importance using a system such as the Eisenhower matrix or the ABC method . (If the workload isn’t too complex, feel free to quickly prioritize yourself without a complex system.) Then immediately take action on each one, starting at the top. Either remove them, delegate, do what they say, or put them aside using the 4D method .

Ohio method and emails

The Ohio method is also great for email, but it can be a waste of time if you’re not careful. Processing each email only once is a reliable way to avoid spending too much time on it, but you need to plan what you’re going to do. Otherwise, you may end up clicking on every new incoming email and trying to manage it in real time.

Emails are harder to prioritize than a to-do list, so it can be difficult to know which one to tackle first. Instead of using the Ohio method at every moment, set aside time every morning and afternoon to review your messages and, of course, only process them once. Try half an hour at the beginning of the workday, half an hour after lunch and 15 minutes before leaving. If you base your approach on time rather than a list of priorities, you’ll still be able to open each message and process it, but won’t be overwhelmed by having to do it every time you get a new alert.