You've raised some excellent questions. Kelly, You and I have worked together at multiple organizations for over a decade. In the years that we've worked together, most of our day-to-day virtual interactions have been carried out either through Lotus Notes or email. Clearly, e-mail has provided us with an advantage. I would love to reduce the disruption of email (and related electronic communications) but I believe it will be difficult to do. We're going to need to develop a new way of thinking how we communicate. I'll try to post some more thoughts on my blog, (http://www.ericmackonline.com) later this evening. best regards, Eric.

Email is a huge help.

In my biz I deal primarily with schools.

Trying to connect with a teacher by phone can be an absolute nightmare. However, sending all the info they require via email makes it a dream. It allows us both to do whatever we need to do when we can actually do it.

I couldn't imagine being without email.

One thing I did very earlier on after adopting the GTD method was to remove the horribly distracting email notification function in outlook. That has made a big difference in my own productivity.

JC

Kelly,
Great blog. I'm a new reader and I'm really enjoying your GTD topics.
Email is a must in my career as an investment advisor and makes contacting my clients much easier.

However, before I learned about GTD my inbox was very large and was a mind numbing distraction for me. I procrastinated all the time after feeling overwhelmed just by looking at it.

GTD has really helped me to manage it and use it more effectively.
cheers, Richard.

Thanks Jeff and Richard for your comments. It sounds like you've both found ways to manage email really well. I agree about eliminating the email notification--it's one of the first things I'll suggest when coaching someone one-on-one in their office. Those notifications, particularly if the 'play a sound' one is also activated, becomes like a ringing telephone for people. Imagine getting 100+ emails a day and having that noise go off 100 times a day!

I have even resorted to keeping my phone on Do Not Disturb from time to time, just so I won't hear that silly ring. When I'm really into some heavy work, hearing the phone ring is equivalant to finger nails on the blackboard to me.

Email is the Shimmer of my world (it's a dessert topping AND a floor wax...)

Quite helpful, but in need of a black-out for a good portion of each day. Meetings are similar... essential, but a hinderance.

It's interesting that the people who call the most meetings, and send the most email, are the most critical of a) the absence of free time on my schedule, and b) my inability to complete my actions during the day (I unfortunately get most of them done at night, after the building empties... except for me.)

I get in excess of 300 emails per day, and could EASILY do nothing but two minute actions (processing emails) all day long.

Add to the emails a schedule full of meetings -- I have very little time to work my own projects.

Typical day -- get to work, process emails for about half an hour, meetings until lunch. Lunch: get OUT... try to unwind over lunch. Then, meetings until 6:00. I try to work my email and paper in-baskets to empty every day (this usually happens in the evening,) then spend a couple of hours on my own next actions.

GTD has been great for me. It is working better for me than the competing methodologies ever have (20 year DayTimer/FranklinCovey veteran), and has helped to keep things from falling through the cracks. But... What I have found (mostly) is that the more I do, the more I am given to do.

Back to the original question: As a manager, email is an essential evil. Coordinating the actions of my team and responding to the rapidly changing landscape of my company would be nearly impossible without it.

Unfortunately, being understaffed, I often wind up absorbing tasks that should be delegated. The heavy load of email (not to mention the meetings) makes being an individual contributor (and a manager) quite difficult.

Sorry for rambling. Felt good. :-)

Sincerely,
Phil

Thanks Phil. What you shared reminds me of the quote, "The better you get, the better you better get." The best people are getting the most work, not the slackers. It can seem like a double edged swored sometimes. Sounds like you're doing a great job managing high volume. -Kelly