Staying focused on what God has for me each day isn't easy. Right now I have a major deadline and I can't let email distract me. I created an auto-response and rule in Gmail that might be helpful to others in a similar situation. The autoresponse is this:
Due to some deadlines I'm facing, I will not be checking my main mailbox until next week. However, if you need my attention sooner than next week, please don't hesitate to use one of the following options:
1. Send an email message to GMAILUSERNAME+FILTERWORD@gmail.com. I will check messages sent to this address daily.
2. Call or text my cell phone.
Thanks!
(Obviously, replace GMAILUSERNAME and FILTERWORD with correct text.) Then I created a filter that forwards any emails sent to that time-sensitive address to MYCELLNUMBER@txt.att.net. Almost all the cell carriers have an address like this that will allow you to send email to text message. So, I get a text anytime someone considers their message time-sensitive.
Just before posting this, I got an auto-reply from a colleague who is also facing a deadline. I liked this auto-reply too:
Thank you for your email. I am currently working on several deadlines. I am monitoring all emails but there may be a delay in my response. Thank you for your patience.
