Comments on: Tech Firms Combine to Combat Email Overwhelm http://www.2time-sys.com/2008/07/12/tech-firms-combine-to-combat-email-overwhelm/ Edgy Ideas for Upgrading Your Life Using Time Management 2.0 Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:37:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Andre Kibbe http://www.2time-sys.com/2008/07/12/tech-firms-combine-to-combat-email-overwhelm/#comment-783 Andre Kibbe Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:05:15 +0000 http://www.2time-sys.com/2008/07/12/tech-firms-combine-to-combat-email-overwhelm/#comment-783 "An incoming email that is not immediately deleted is being kept by the user for a reason– they have made a very quick mental decision to perform an action on that message at some later time." I think many people still think of handling email in terms of "checking" it rather than "processing" it. The checking mindset breeds a habit of leaving non-urgent messages in the inbox, blending with newer incoming messages, which ultimately leads to going numb to the while pile of email. At that point, the only way to recover is to either declare email bankruptcy, or do the hard work of actually processing those hundreds of messages, one by one, until the inbox is empty. Another notion that's still missing for many people (though usually not those who study productivity) is having a separate folder or tag for messages that take more time to answer than is available in the moment: e.g. an @Action, Follow-Up or Reply folder. They feel as though they either have to answer an email the moment they receive it, or leave it in their inbox. If they answer each message in real time, a moderately complex reply might take 15 minutes to answer. If they have two or three of these, they might spend a large portion of their morning on low-priority work before getting to a far more urgent or important email, which is why it's vital to have a constraint like the Two Minute Rule to prevent time sinks. You're absolutely right: email overload isn't a software problem. It's a matter of establishing more effective and consistent processing habits. “An incoming email that is not immediately deleted is being kept by the user for a reason– they have made a very quick mental decision to perform an action on that message at some later time.”

I think many people still think of handling email in terms of “checking” it rather than “processing” it. The checking mindset breeds a habit of leaving non-urgent messages in the inbox, blending with newer incoming messages, which ultimately leads to going numb to the while pile of email. At that point, the only way to recover is to either declare email bankruptcy, or do the hard work of actually processing those hundreds of messages, one by one, until the inbox is empty.

Another notion that’s still missing for many people (though usually not those who study productivity) is having a separate folder or tag for messages that take more time to answer than is available in the moment: e.g. an @Action, Follow-Up or Reply folder. They feel as though they either have to answer an email the moment they receive it, or leave it in their inbox. If they answer each message in real time, a moderately complex reply might take 15 minutes to answer. If they have two or three of these, they might spend a large portion of their morning on low-priority work before getting to a far more urgent or important email, which is why it’s vital to have a constraint like the Two Minute Rule to prevent time sinks.

You’re absolutely right: email overload isn’t a software problem. It’s a matter of establishing more effective and consistent processing habits.

]]> By: Zbigniew Lukasiak http://www.2time-sys.com/2008/07/12/tech-firms-combine-to-combat-email-overwhelm/#comment-776 Zbigniew Lukasiak Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:24:08 +0000 http://www.2time-sys.com/2008/07/12/tech-firms-combine-to-combat-email-overwhelm/#comment-776 At least part of the information overload problem is in our perception. We automate more and more of our work apart from one thing - we cannot automate communication with other humans. This means that communicating with people is bigger and bigger part of our job - we cannot escape that. And it is not a problem just like it is not a problem that now most of our work is intellectual work instead of hauling heavy things around or digging ditches with a spade. But I do agree that this also means that we should care more about the tools we use for communication - because there is bigger and bigger leverage in it. And perhaps email is not the best tool for everything. At least part of the information overload problem is in our perception. We automate more and more of our work apart from one thing – we cannot automate communication with other humans. This means that communicating with people is bigger and bigger part of our job – we cannot escape that. And it is not a problem just like it is not a problem that now most of our work is intellectual work instead of hauling heavy things around or digging ditches with a spade. But I do agree that this also means that we should care more about the tools we use for communication – because there is bigger and bigger leverage in it. And perhaps email is not the best tool for everything.

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