Are you Team Inbox Zero? It might feel like you’re Getting Stuff Done, but managing email is NOT REAL WORK. Holding back the tide (or tsunami!) of messages gets in the way of what we’re really supposed to be doing at work.
Truth: It can be misery-inducing to the point of making us hate our jobs.
In A World Without Email, computer science associate professor and tech writer Cal Newport has some really interesting ideas on why messages can fill us with dread and what we can do about it.
Newport dives deep into modern–and historical–case studies, and I’m a total nerd for this stuff. He’s a thinker.
But if you’re not ready to go full-nerd, consider my top three takeaways:
1. Messaging is an ineffective way to communicate.
Body language is so important for our lizard brains. Brief meetings are better for group decisions.
2. Messaging and Inbox-checking is highly disruptive.
It takes our brains 20 minutes to get back to what we were doing before. It takes even longer if you get distracted by email or messages that don’t relate to the task at hand.
3. FOMO is a real, psychological thing.
Our brains don’t like ignoring any sort of communication that might be waiting for us.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Yep. How did the modern workplace get to be a frenzied, open-office, hyperactive hivemind, and how is it getting in the way of real work? The case studies are truly shocking.
I loathe managing my email.
I block out two hours on Fridays to clean out my Inbox. That’s two hours I could use to do something else. I’ve noticed that a lot of the messages from my coworkers could have been avoided with a phone call or a brief meeting.
So I’m going to propose switching to shared project boards for group projects or I might even suggest a weekly 15-minute meeting (whaaaat??). Or ‘office hours’ for everyone, where we set aside an hour or so a day/week where we’re okay with being interrupted.
I’m soooo tired of the unnecessary back-and-forth and the subsequent lost messages.
Take Action
Does managing your email inbox crush your soul, too? I’ve got some actionable tips just for you.
- If you really want to GSD, close your inbox window and turn off messaging apps
- Map out a new process for communicating on group projects. Test it on one project to see how receptive your teammates are
- Write ‘smart’ emails. Try my suggestions from my post, Email Freakout
- Suggest ‘office hours’ at work. These are the hours that you are okay with being interrupted. Use the uninterruptable time to do your deep work.
Cheers!
Erica
