Ok… Here’s an update to my previous article on this topic…
I’ve been doing pretty much what I’ve described….
(1) I have been UNSUBSCRIBING to everything I can possibly live without. There is almost NO email newsletter or mailing list that I NEED to be subscribed to. I can get all the information I need by simply going to the appropriate web site or doing a google search. Email newsletters are mainly a MARKETTING TOOL. I don’t need them. If it’s something I’m interested in, I’ll make my own notes on my own “to do” list or calendar….. but I do not need to receive email newsletters to remind me of anythiing…
(2) I have been RESISTING THE TEMPTATION TO REPLY… as much as I possibly can. In about 90% of the emails I get, I can simply read it, make a mental note of the information, I add a “tag” so that I will be able to find it quickly in the future (like “brazil travel info”), and click Archive (in gmail)…. WITHOUT REPLYING. This one step has vastly reduced the amount of time-wasting “Chat Mail” (endless messaging going back-and-forth via email)…. more than any other single act.
(3) If I feel like I MUST tell this person somethng… I reply, but only with a one-line message. If I feel like it needs more than ONE LINE, I telephone them instead…. This eliminates tons more “Chat Mail”…
(4) I avoid posting ads anywhere online — like on craigslist.org for example — unless I absolutely NEED to…. because such ads generate so much extra email.
(5) I refine my Google Alerts search terms to the MOST OBSCURE UNIQUE terms so that I rarely receive any alerts, and when I do… they are EXACTLY what I am looking for…
(6) I still use email to send out MASS ANNOUNCEMENT messages to lots of people at the same time. Email is perfectly suited for this…. and it works great, of course.
(7) As for instant messaging (IM)… The only program I use, that has instant messaging, is Skype… And text messages (SMS) still come in on my cellphone too… Some people just seem to prefer this type of messaging… But I’ve been trying to apply the same rules as I do to email: Do Not Reply unless I really MUST… and if I really MUST reply, I call the person on the telephone…
THE MAIN POINT is: I do not carry on conversations in email. I either stop conversing…. or I take it to the telephone… and make a telephone conversation out of it. And I view every automated email as a task — a task to get myself removed from that mailing list (unless it’s a relevant announcement message from a friend, of course).
THAT makes my life so much more efficient and effective.
