"Time cannot be changed. In precisely 10080 minutes another week will have gone - forever. The question is will you be happy with yourself in seven days' time that these minutes will have been used to benefit 'time's stakeholders' - yourself, colleagues, your job, your family and home and your friends in the proportions that you know intuitively each demands and deserves?

Although some 'time eaters' and interruptions are inevitable there are some areas in our modern lifestyle which we can all discipline. Besides the TV, phone calls, coffee and chitchat, flicking through a magazine, a popular 'time-eater' are Emails.

Most of us check our Emails daily, some twice a day, and others nearly every time we look at the screen. This affects our constructive work and can delay important tasks on our 'to do' list. What innocently starts off with a quick 'check my messages' can turn into half-an-hour of unproductive wasted time. Here are 4 ways to putting an end to Email 'time-fillers'..

1. Limit your Email logins - once a day is enough, twice at most. It's best to close your program or window so that it's not running in the background and cause distractions.

2.. Handle each Email only once - as you open it, read it to prepare yourself mentally about where it needs to go. Either read it and delete it or read it, respond to it then delete it or save it aside in another folder for future reference.

3. React as soon as your receive Emails - the more your leave your Emails to accumulate, the harder it will be to work your way through to the pile.

4. Filter your messages - set up message rules to deliver your Emails to the right folder so that if an Email comes from your friend Jack Emails are automatically sent to Jack's folder whilst Jill's Emails are sent into Jill's folder. This works great if you're constantly getting Emails from many people at once, especially if you have subscribed to a newsletter or mailing list."