Just when I’m getting in the groove on a project, there it is—an all-too-familiar pop-up announcing an e-mail in my inbox: Google Alert, Today’s Headlines, Meeting request. They just keep coming, each declaring its utmost importance and demanding immediate attention. But what can I do? Ignore e-mails from clients, bosses, colleagues? That’s not too smart.
With laptops, PDAs and cell phones, e-mail can find us anywhere, anytime and anyhow. Processing the daily barrage of incoming information has become a part-time job for many Americans. One study by business research firm Basex found that e-mail interruptions account for roughly 28 percent of the workday for someone in a knowledge-based industry. More and more you hear about professionals who can’t go five minutes without checking their inboxes, who take their laptops to bed, who are mentally unavailable to friends and families even when they’re not at work.
I’m happy to say I’ve been able to manage a successful career so far without owning a PDA or constantly checking e-mail at home. The way I see it, signing off allows me to recharge mentally and focus on big-picture thinking instead of the tedium of e-mail.
A handful of major companies have experimented with “No-e-mail Fridays.” What if we all followed suit, shutting off our PDAs and closing our inboxes at least one day a week? I’ll bet the world wouldn’t come crashing down—someone with an emergency can always pick up the phone. But the real question is: could we handle the silence?
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You know you’re preaching to the choir with me on this issue. Like alot of people these days I receive wave upon wave of emails each day. Each one carrying the expectation of instant response. I have refused to let this technology follow me out of the office so on days that I am out I get further and further behind. While I could be reached by phone, this is a means of communication headed in the direction of the telegraph. I wonder what people would think of the telephone if it had been invented after email? Oh well, while this venting might feel good all it’s done is get me further behind on reading my urgent emails.
If you step away from your desk for a two-hour meeting, you can’t (or at least shouldn’t) check email. I take that approach sometimes: if I want to focus on something, I pretend I’ve walked into a meeting and - perish the thought - close my email for a couple hours. It works… kinda. I get a lot done, but I must confess my mind occasionally wanders as I steal glances at my computer, wondering what critical email has come in that I’m ignoring.
Ryan, you’re right - the silence that comes when that little chime disappears is louder than it should be.
Oh, well, at least I don’t have a PDA. And no intention of getting one. I hope.
I completely disagree..and frankly, believe that no-email Friday’s are a ridiculous idea. I have a PDA and I love it. Because of my PDA I am allowed time with my daughter at our swing set immediately at 5PM without the fear of missing something that is late in arriving and promised to be acted upon that day. I commit to only looking at the device when it vibrates and can control the tones to alert me when it is an important client, my boss, my boyfriend, etc so that I know when I really should pick up and when it is likely something of lower importance that can wait. There are certainly times when I don’t look at it and make conscious decisions around when those times exist. It is completely “user error-in-judgment” when PDAs are used to hinder communicating and hinder personal time rather than enhancing it.
I completely agree Pam! Coming from someone who is checking her work e-mail after hours as I write this, I love that I can access e-mail and work from home while I watch the Olympics or while I sit at the park with my dog. Let’s face it, we live in a fast-food, news ticker, instant communication society and people expect immediate responses. I can’t afford to make a reporter or a client wait on a pressing issue, but I can choose to ignore it if it isn’t urgent. I’d much rather be waiting on someone to respond to my e-mail than hold up the process if a reporter, a client or my boss needs some information.
What I love about e-mail is its immediacy. And what I hate is its immediacy. I appreciate being able to send an e-mail and get a fast response, but I hate it when people expect that of me. I guess we’re learning to deal with e-mail the way my parents’ generation learned to deal with the phone. I’m not obligated to answer it just because it rings, and I’m not obligated to act on, or even read, an e-mail just because it arrives in my inbox.
Interestingly enough, this came out today on MSN
http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/articletkt.aspx?cp-documentid=8518894>1=32023 Some interesting suggestions.
Interesting comments in support of keeping a PDA or laptop nearby. My problem with that is the same argument used to support it—it allows work to follow you home. Having dinner with friends or watching a movie on the couch with my wife can’t be a relaxing break from the daily grind if I’m preoccupied with what messages I have to respond to later. Like I said in my original post, if something can’t wait until the next morning, I will have let the client, reporter, or colleague know how to reach me after hours and will be ready to take their call. I agree that we are living in a world of instant communication, but to stay sane I think it’s dependent upon each of us to create a space were we can get away from all the noise.