Comments on: E-Mail Zero: Imagining Life Without E-Mail

By: agv

agv — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:28:35 +0000

All incoming flows are equal no matter the medium. They urge for our time and attention. For me, email is more convenient, I can arrange folders, highlight, rule, etc, to prioritize and pay attention on important things. Further, I feel more efficient; I can handle more than one email in the time it takes a phone call. The bottom line is that I know a communication toolset and I am happy with it.

The key point remains the same: one input that filters all incoming information flows is better; let it be web 2.0, email, phone, whatever

By: Study Hacks

Study Hacks — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:02:52 +0000

E-mail zero is just a mean to minimize the different paths of incoming information flows.

I agree. But the key point missing from your argument is that not all incoming information flows are made equal. Due to many factors, e-mail has a tendency to be way more time sapping than other forms of communication. Therefore, eliminating it, as oppose to the phone and answering machine, my be a better reductions among the many possible.

By: agv

agv — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:06:35 +0000

E-mail zero is just a mean to minimize the different paths of incoming information flows. Prof. Knuth gets everything in print. Prof. Lightman probably phones people and/or meet them in real time. Tim Ferris uses a VPA. What is common is that all three of them (and a lot more than these) collect all incoming information in just one medium. Controlling just one medium is easier.

Latest email software (personal or corporate versions) and various web 2.0 applications/mashups try to achieve the same result … with the convenience of the digital world Imagine a Zero Phone, Zero Answer Machine and everything in your Inbox

Just my $0.02

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:46:54 +0000

This is ironic. The article is about email-free life but commentators are required to enter their mail in order to reply.

By: 5 Steps to Glorious Productivity with Firefox | 3stylelife

5 Steps to Glorious Productivity with Firefox | 3stylelife — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:04:04 +0000

[…] A number of productivity bloggers have dealt with chronic e-mail checking and responding:How to Stop Checking E-mail on the Evenings and WeekendsE-Mail Zero: Imagining Life Without E-mail […]

By: Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Bonus Post: How the World's Most Famous Computer Scientist Checks E-mail Only Once Every Three Months

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By: BrownStudies : Mark Hurst’s “Bit Literacy”

BrownStudies : Mark Hurst’s “Bit Literacy” — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:53:38 +0000

[…] decided what’s of interest to them and their lives and work, then–like Donald Knuth and Alan Lightman–they can choose to eschew email and other bit-processors totally, and get on with what they […]

By: Study Hacks

Study Hacks — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:04:10 +0000

@Gary & Nate:

For what it’s worth, I do something similar to both of you. I use Gmail. I aggressively filter and unsubscribe to the point that I get very unhappy if anything arrives in my inbox that is not from a human being I know. I have various GTD style labels to quickly archive messages I can’t deal with right away, including a @ReplyASAP label for things I need to get to real quick. And I try to use good e-mail ettiquette to avoid unnecessary back and forth.

The end results is that I have no problem keeping an empty inbox.

However, relatively speaking, I don’t get that many e-mails. Mainly from readers, a few from academic colleagues, and the occasionally family and friend note. So I have it easy. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I had a position like Professor Lightman…

By: Study Hacks

Study Hacks — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:00:57 +0000

Realistically, though, email, used appropriately, has improved my personal and business communications.

I agree with that. For a lot of people — myself included — e-mail adds a lot of value. For some, however, it because the bane of their existence.

By: Nate

Nate — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:19:03 +0000

A compromise could be using the Getting Things Done for College Students method to email. Completely clear out your inbox and then arrange folders titled “Friends,” “Family,” “Class-Related,” and “Important.” Maintaining a clean and empty inbox relieves a lot of stress by acknowledging that all emails have been attended to (even the ones that were deleted!). This, of course, is credited to Cal Newport. I second Gary’s advice - removing unwanted subscriptions is the first step to purging your inbox.