Use the ‘OHIO’ Method to Manage Your Endless Tasks and Messages

When you're wading through all the emails, Slack messages, and other notifications you get on an average day, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. When that happens, you can might yourself getting distracted and missing important messages—at least, that's what happens to me, unless I have some kind of plan in place.

There are a few different approaches you can consider to prevent this, but the "OHIO" technique is the one to try if you need extra help being decisive—though it's important to note that while it can ease your decision paralysis, it does have a few limitations worth considering.

What is the OHIO method of time management?

OHIO is an acronym for “Only Handle It Once” and you'll hear it crop up in a variety of productivity-based conversations, like ones around tidying up. Proponents say it helps you avoid unnecessary dawdling, delays, and indecision, as it calls for you to handle any task, email, message, or assignment just one time. It's definitely a habit you need to build up to, but it's one that pays off the longer you work at it.

You can broadly apply it to what you’re working by assessing your entire inbox, to-do list, or other group of tasks all at once. Prioritize the 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 prioritize them quickly on your own 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, starting from the top. Either delete them, delegate them, do what they say, or defer them, using the 4D method.

The OHIO method and emails

The OHIO method works great for emails, too, but it can suck you into time-wasting if you’re not careful. Only handling each email once is a solid way not to spend too much time on it, but you have to plan what you’re going to do. Otherwise, you may end up clicking every new email that comes in and trying to manage it in real time.

Emails are harder to prioritize than a to-do list, so you may struggle to determine which one you should jump on first. Instead of implementing the OHIO method in the moment every moment, set aside time every morning and afternoon to go through your messages and, of course, only handle them once. (You can use time boxing and time blocking to make sure you do this at the same time every day, plus a 3-3-3 to-do list to make sure you have time to prioritize the task.) Try a half hour at the start of your workday, a half hour after lunch, and 15 minutes just before clocking out. If you base your approach on time, rather than a prioritized list, you’ll still be able to open each message and handle it, but won’t be swamped by having to do that every time you get a new alert.