The 2 Step Trick to Kill Email and Take Back Your Day

by Josh on June 23, 2008 · Comments

I was working on a somebody’s computer this morning and their email notification kept popping up asking you to choose to go to the email or not. For one thing, that was incredibly annoying, and incredibly inefficient for another.

A little experiment
So it made me want to offer up a little experiment to show you how to get rid of the biggest consuming and utterly destructive tool that is… email.


First, think of how often you check your email. Do you have a pop-up notification? How many of those emails would stop something critical from happening if they were not answered right away? Why is somebody writing an email if it is that critical?

“Dear You, if you don’t answer my email in 5 seconds, I will walk over there and slap your face.”

It seems like that sometimes, which is why I have all but gotten rid of email. Don’t get me wrong, it can be good if used correctly. Think about it – in years gone by, you didn’t go out to your mailbox every 5 minutes to see if you had something new and then meticulously sit down to pen a reply back. What’s a ‘mailbox’ right?

Ok, so seriously everyone, for one week try out the next two things and tell me what difference it makes in your workflow and what you’re able to get done.

Turn off Auto-notification
It’s that notice that pops up every an email arrives. In Outlook, it’s in Tools, Options, Preferences Tab. hit the Email Options Button then hit Advanced Email Options and uncheck all the When new item arrives in my Inbox options. Dang! Not the easiest thing to get to huh.

If you’re on Gmail, kill the tab in your browser so you’re not being reminded of unread items. I would go one step further and turn off anything that has an auto-notify, Instant Messenger, Social Media, but at the very least turn off email notification. Now, notice as your mind starts to clear.

Check email once a day
This is the hardest to do. Check email once a day. I would not do it in the morning. Do it right against a hard break, like lunchtime or going home, so it helps you go through items quickly without wasting . You don’t need to let anyone know when you check your email. If they call and ask if you received it, you can now discuss the issue over the phone and that’s one less email you have to read.

This isn’t a new idea by far, but I see email open more than any other program lately. Have you already tried steps like these? What have your results been like?

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Tagged as: email, time, work

  • Marijn
    Gmail has a feature in the labs section:

    'Email Addict
    by Michael D
    Lets you take a break from email and chat by blocking the screen for fifteen minutes and making you invisible in chat.'
    The only problem is that you can refresh your page and reset it.
  • Ivan
    Revolutionary! I totally agree with you on time wasted...

    I could make a slight argument and that is where I send a dwg file to vendors to get a quote and they email me back same day (if I'm lucky!) and I can confirm an order 1 day sooner which is huge if we're on a tight timeline... and maybe it needs to be shipped on certain days... sigh... but really, why should it be that tight in the first place. SEE: PRODUCT MANAGEMENT!
  • Email is the most misused tool out there right now because so many people use it as a poor-man's collaboration tool.

    I know people that set their preferences for email checking frequency to 1 minute beause they're afraid they may miss something. They ask everyone in the office to select unique email alert tones, and then turn up their speakers full blast and come running from down the hall (or even from another floor) if they think they heard their tone.

    Yet in over 20 years of experience in the business, not one of those guys can cite an example of a negative event happening because they were 15 minutes late receiving an email.

    It's simple really... Email is best for messages and prolonged conversations. IM is best for more quick questions or short conversations. And the telephone, VOIP, or webcam is by far the best for immediate and\or long conversations. Just use each tool for what it's best for and leave it at that.

    --End of Rant--
  • rhalexype
    Found this in Plurkland... http://www.dsoft.com.tr/stripmail/

    Not an email killer, but a little helper...

    StripMail is a FREEWARE utility that:

    Strips the characters ">" and "|" from forwarded e-mails.
    Formats the text into paragraphs, making it easier to read.
    Changes the text's right margin, by indenting.
    Can be used with any e-mail client.
  • MikeO
    If I only check it once or twice a day I'll miss all my SolidWorks tips and tricks and I'll have wasted the day designing parts the wrong way instead of a better way.

    Also

    If there were no spam, I would only get 5 emails a day and the "you have mail" icon would only come up those 5 times.

    Email is for sending jokes anyway, right?
  • Tried and true tips taken straight from any time management course. HOWEVER, they'll say the same thing about phone calls. DON'T answer every time it rings. If it's that important, they'll leave a voicemail.

    So now, they'll text you, or come over and slap your face.

    The huge advantage that email has over phone is DOCUMENTATION. In a dispute, you have a record of it. Verbal agreements always get you in trouble. However, it is a better medium of communication when time is of the essence.

    The a trade off with everything. Some things simply need to be addressed quickly. Choose the medium that works for you, and pick your battles.
  • Josh
    @Bruce - indeed huh. I definitely recommend it to document conversations. On phone conversations, I'll follow up with an email to all the parties. That is important to point out.

    @MikeO - yes, jokes. my deleted box is a repository for jokes and chain mails. :)

    @Rich - that is an interesting program. I've always hated those ">" marks on forwarded email.

    @Rick - totally agree with you. I've seen the same thing and it gets ridiculous.

    @Ivan - product management can increase email load, but the goal is to make it not rule your day. I'd still set times to check it, say 1 time every hour, instead of just sitting looking at it (which I've seen as well.)

    @Marijn - cool, I'll check out that Gmail Labs tool. i don't use gchat too much though, but the other feature sounds cool.

    Thanks for all the replies. I hope some people try this out and tell me what happened!
  • last year, when I hnad time on my hands, I spent time and went through my email for a year. I had 12,000 emails (very little spam) - I'm a journalist, so I get sent a lot of stuff. I went through everything I had and guess how much I whittled it down to - how many emails out of those 12,000 I kept.

    56..

    read it, delete it. that's my tip.
  • Josh
    Al... that... IS INSANE. 12,000 - I think I would delete and start over.
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