Comments on: Recovering from an e-mail interruption

By: Alan

Alan — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:41:20 +0000

I leave my e-mail on and let the interruptions happen. I’m sure I could be a lot more productive if I could keep my e-mail off for an hour at a stretch, but in my office that would be frowned upon.

By: WWD Weekend Reading List

WWD Weekend Reading List — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:01:47 +0000

[...] Uncluterrer: “Recovering from an e-mail interruption” [...]

By: Surfin’ the Net: 10/3 | Organizing Your Way

Surfin’ the Net: 10/3 | Organizing Your Way — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:29:10 +0000

[...] Recovering from an Email Interruption, [...]

By: John Cupak

John Cupak — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:44:38 +0000

When I tried to turn off automatic email notification my manager-of-the-time threw a hissy fit. Seems he was in a meeting and wanted me to provide an answer to a question RIGHT NOW! He even went to far as to ping me in my performance review because I wasn’t able to instantly respond. I’d get an IM to the tune of “did you get my email?” And the information needed wasn’t that time-critical anyways – typically took me 1/2 day or more to get the answer he wanted anyways (database queries, excel analysis, etc). Thank goodness I no longer work for him! I now check my email in the morning, noon, and before I leave for home. If it’s important enough, I ask folks to call or IM me.

By: itdude

itdude — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:57:51 +0000

I work in information technology, and so I’ve gotten pretty used to email. I actually find personal visits to my desk to be much more distracting. When someone shows up at my door, I *have* to stop what I’m doing, no matter how much I’m concentrating on something. With email, I can decide when to process and respond to it, taking into account our business needs (respond to system alerts right away, customers within 2 hours, etc).

Here are some things I do that might help others with email distractions:

- Have your email program filter messages according to subject, sender, or whatever makes sense. Have it move non-essential stuff to another folder or mailbox, for you to look at later. Keep only the “hot” items in your inbox.

- If you have enough “screen space”, keep your email program open all the time. When a message comes in, a quick glance at the subject or sender line will let you know whether you should stop and address it, or defer it. This may sound counter-intuitive at first, but once you get used to it, it helps.

- Don’t have your email program ‘minimized” and alerting you all the time. It takes time and mental effort to re-open the mail window and look at the message(s) that just came in. (This is really just restating the point above, from a different perspective).

- Our group has to respond immediately to alerts regarding our service — they may mean a service outage or serious problem. We decided to rotate the duty of watching for these alerts, for 2 reasons: 1 – someone is definitely going to respond, and 2 – more important to this discussion, the rest of us can get our project work done. Each of us know in advance that “my day” will be less productive project-wise, but it’s only one day a week (there are 5 of us).

I wonder if we experience email overload because, for the most part, we didn’t grow up with it. We have to adapt to it, and have to change our own norms to deal with it. It seems to me that younger folks, who grew up with this stuff, have a much easier and less stressful time with it. For the past several years, I’ve been reading the comments of college students regarding electronic communication. They say that email is “how I communicate with old people”; they use instant messaging and social media sites to communicate when they’re not in the same room.

By: 24 Productivity Tips From the Best Productivity Blogs | EClick Business Services

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:32:52 +0000

[...] If this statistic is true, and I know from experience that there is a refractory time after any distraction, it is strong evidence against leaving the notification alert active on your e-mail program. Instead, you should schedule time in your day to check your e-mail. Based on the type of office environment you work in, you might need to check your e-mail at the top of every hour. However, most people can get by only checking their e-mail two to four times during the work day.” — “Unclutterer” [...]

By: Catherine Cantieri, Sorted

Catherine Cantieri, Sorted — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:30:56 +0000

That statistic is absolutely true, and I can totally feel the frustration from the people whose workplaces insist on instant messaging and the constant, near-immediate refrain of “did you get my email??”.

I really love Anne’s suggestion, that quoting that statistic might startle some sense into people who expect you to respond to their emails immediately.

Great discussion in the comments!

By: Cat

Cat — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:23:56 +0000

@Anita – well said. I would love to be able to avoid checking email as it comes in, but unfortunately that’s not really feasible. A post on minimizing recovery time, though, would be great!

By: 24 Productivity Tips From the Best Productivity Blogs

24 Productivity Tips From the Best Productivity Blogs — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:59:18 +0000

By: allen

allen — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:45:11 +0000

Well, as some of you know, I was laid off in April, and I can tell you, that the ability to try to effect useful change in your workplace, or even in your OWN work-time, is DIRECTLY tied to your seniority/importance.

I tried to check my email less often, but most of us small fish aren’t allowed to tell the upper-ups that we’re only going to check our email every few hours! This really seems like information that is only useful to those who have enough power to make others conform to them, not the other way around. I honestly think part of why I lost my job was I kept giving suggestions on ways that the office might run smoother (that’s part of how my brain was working, I was in QA!).

Also, did the study compare the distraction time of someone coming over to speak with you, compared to a received email?

By: Mickey

Mickey — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:06:58 +0000

I did this in my previous job, and it took some “training” on my coworkers to understand that I’m not checking email every 15 minutes, so if they need my response immediatly, they should call me or walk over to my desk (small office). I checked email, on average 4 times a day (morning, mid morning break, after lunch, afternoon break) and if I was doing any heavy writing (like grants) I sometimes only checked in the morning/after lunch.

Did some people get irritated. Yes. But did they get over it. Yes.

Of course, if your job is to be responsive, it may not work, but I found for me the only barrier was everyone’s expectation that you need to work at THEIR urgency.

By: Beth Frede

Beth Frede — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:03:45 +0000

I try to keep my inbox as empty as possible, but it’s a daily challenge. In a perfect world I’d be organized enough to limit myself to checking and dealing with email just twice a day, at specific designated times…. But I’m not there yet!

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:06:19 +0000

Echo what Michele said. PROCESS it. Email isn’t as much of a chore if you’re actually dealing with each one as it hits. The overwhelm happens when you check it, queue it, and the workload just builds up.

By: Michele Connolly, Get Organized Wizard

Michele Connolly, Get Organized Wizard — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:55:24 +0000

I find the 2 steps to avoiding email distraction are:

1. Turn off auto-receive
2. *Process* rather than check email

The second step creates a mindset when email management becomes a channel for progressing projects and getting work done, rather than a interruption. A tool, not a hindrance.

PS I have a post on processing rather than checking here:
http://www.getorganizedwizard......ail-again/

By: David Turnbull

David Turnbull — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:16:34 +0000

Email is my weakness. Although I only get a couple per day I’m still always checking my inbox. If Safari had an add on like LeechBlock I’d be fine. Shame that it doesn’t.