[1]Too Much Email:

    [2]Cal Newport linked to [3]an Adobe study that concluded average
    users check email 5.6 hours per weekday. If you look into the study
    a bit further, it looks like these numbers are inflated but even
    cutting them in half, 2.3 hours a day on email is too much.

    Historically, I always thought of myself as that guy who answered
    all of his email. It wasn't until I realized the cost of that
    self-image in terms of my personal productivity, my relationship
    with my family and my clients, and my simple ability to ship
    interesting products that I was able to abandon that particular
    hangup.

    A big help for me was time blocking email. (Hooray for
    [4]hyper-scheduling!) I have about 40 minutes in the morning and 20
    minutes in the late afternoon blocked for email. On days that I
    stick to those numbers, I generally get a lot more work done.

    Maybe this week you should keep track of how much time you spend
    with email. If you're spending hours a day in your email client and
    don't have a really good reason for that, start thinking about ways
    to lower that number.

  (Via [5]MacSparky)

  I block schedule email, Slack, and other as "open loops" in my
  calendar, typically two or three times in my work day. Email filters
  help hugely, as my employer sends a number of informational yet
  un-actionable newsletters.

  Even then I triage my emails. Lotus Notes, my employer's email platform
  of choice, has a delightful feature where it indicates your inclusion:
  a full circle means it is sent to you, a 75% means to you and others,
  50% means you are in copy, and an empty circle means you are on blind
  carbon copy. I could be wrong on the details, but I am unaware of
  another mail client that offers something similar.

  As for triaging Slack, anything sent to me in a Direct Message gets my
  attention. After that, I know what channels I want to spend time
  perusing.

  As for notifications and alerts, they are turned off by default.
  Messages from people I define as VIPs get to alert me. Everything else
  can wait for my attention, which I value. I value yours, too, so I will
  not usually message trivialities.

  For more, check out [6]Your email habits should be considerate, not
  just productive from Quartz.
  Also on:

  [7]Twitter
    __________________________________________________________________

  My original entry is here: [8]Too Much Email. It posted Thu, 15 Nov
  2018 12:08:07 +0000.
  Filed under: business,

References

  1. https://www.macsparky.com/blog/2018/10/too-much-email
  2. http://calnewport.com/blog/2018/10/09/the-average-user-checks-email-5-6-hours-per-weekday-this-is-not-good/
  3. https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/adobe/2018-adobe-consumer-email-survey
  4. https://www.macsparky.com/blog/2018/2/the-hyper-scheduling-experiment
  5. https://www.macsparky.com/
  6. https://qz.com/work/1443912/your-email-habits-should-focus-on-being-considerate-not-just-productive/
  7. https://twitter.com/prjorgensen/status/1063042035207360513
  8. https://www.prjorgensen.com/?p=2267