This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/22/email-tyranny-cabinet-office

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Email is the bodily odour of the office Email is the body odour of the office
(about 2 hours later)
The Cabinet Office has decided that Thursday will be no-email day, encouraging civil servants to make phone calls or speak to each other instead. The net effect will be like putting both legs in one trouser leg: Friday will become the worst day of the week.The Cabinet Office has decided that Thursday will be no-email day, encouraging civil servants to make phone calls or speak to each other instead. The net effect will be like putting both legs in one trouser leg: Friday will become the worst day of the week.
Email is the bodily odour of office life. When it builds up it has the potential to be deeply unpleasant and you need to make a continuous effort to keep it under control. However, there are ways. Email is the body odour of office life. When it builds up it has the potential to be deeply unpleasant and you need to make a continuous effort to keep it under control. However, there are ways.
Way back in the mists of analogue time, the bane of every office worker was paper. It got everywhere: there was mountains of it and it continuously arrived at your desk in manila envelopes from the mail room. There were even "pop-up" wads of paper that people dumped on your desk while passing. Everybody knew in their hearts that work and the office would be so much simpler if they could only get rid of the never-ending, unmanageable and crushing deluge of paper. The good news is that we have. The bad news is that email is the new never-ending, unmanageable and crushing deluge.Way back in the mists of analogue time, the bane of every office worker was paper. It got everywhere: there was mountains of it and it continuously arrived at your desk in manila envelopes from the mail room. There were even "pop-up" wads of paper that people dumped on your desk while passing. Everybody knew in their hearts that work and the office would be so much simpler if they could only get rid of the never-ending, unmanageable and crushing deluge of paper. The good news is that we have. The bad news is that email is the new never-ending, unmanageable and crushing deluge.
It's not just the volume of emails that's ever increasing, it's also the way we can receive them. With smartphones you are never more than a second away from an email. Soon we will be able to receive them without lifting a finger, with the messages going straight into our head which, funnily enough, is exactly like talking to people. For those who have yet to try this seamless, disintermediated social networking tool, I strongly recommend it. An email chain normally runs like this: communication, misinterpretation, clarification, revision, misdirection, obfuscation, procrastination, extinction. A face-to-face conversation runs like this: communication, clarification, jollification, cappuccino. Every chat you have with someone real in real time in a real place restores the human capital that emails leach out.It's not just the volume of emails that's ever increasing, it's also the way we can receive them. With smartphones you are never more than a second away from an email. Soon we will be able to receive them without lifting a finger, with the messages going straight into our head which, funnily enough, is exactly like talking to people. For those who have yet to try this seamless, disintermediated social networking tool, I strongly recommend it. An email chain normally runs like this: communication, misinterpretation, clarification, revision, misdirection, obfuscation, procrastination, extinction. A face-to-face conversation runs like this: communication, clarification, jollification, cappuccino. Every chat you have with someone real in real time in a real place restores the human capital that emails leach out.
My father used to have a sign in the kitchen that said: "The interruptions at which we chafe are the credentials of our usefulness." This was to remind him to listen to us occasionally and be helpful. Similarly, the emails at which we chafe are the credentials of our interconnectedness. It's your fault that you're so useful and central to people's lives. And if you're not useful or central, remove yourself from that person's life. Don't be shy about unsubscribing, blocking and degrouping yourself: it shows people that you take communication seriously and unless you can give it your undivided attention, you'd rather not hear it.My father used to have a sign in the kitchen that said: "The interruptions at which we chafe are the credentials of our usefulness." This was to remind him to listen to us occasionally and be helpful. Similarly, the emails at which we chafe are the credentials of our interconnectedness. It's your fault that you're so useful and central to people's lives. And if you're not useful or central, remove yourself from that person's life. Don't be shy about unsubscribing, blocking and degrouping yourself: it shows people that you take communication seriously and unless you can give it your undivided attention, you'd rather not hear it.
Think of the way you deal with emails on a Sunday. Don't pretend you don't look at your emails on Sunday; we all do even if we have to do it in church. But we do so in a slightly different way. We gently scroll through and open things only from people we like, from people who want to offer us money (who are not also rich Liberian widows) and from people who can cause us immediate career pain. Those three groups represent on average 4% of all emails. The rest you should view as prayers, well-meant supplications that may or may not be answered depending on your level of benevolence.Think of the way you deal with emails on a Sunday. Don't pretend you don't look at your emails on Sunday; we all do even if we have to do it in church. But we do so in a slightly different way. We gently scroll through and open things only from people we like, from people who want to offer us money (who are not also rich Liberian widows) and from people who can cause us immediate career pain. Those three groups represent on average 4% of all emails. The rest you should view as prayers, well-meant supplications that may or may not be answered depending on your level of benevolence.
Here are some rules to keep it under control every day of the week:Here are some rules to keep it under control every day of the week:
• Don't email people visible from your desk• Don't email people visible from your desk
• If it really matters, talk to people• If it really matters, talk to people
• Rediscover the power of the telephone• Rediscover the power of the telephone
• Handwritten letters don't get deleted• Handwritten letters don't get deleted
• If you don't send, they won't reply• If you don't send, they won't reply
• Get yourself off distribution lists• Get yourself off distribution lists
• If you open it, deal with it immediately• If you open it, deal with it immediately
• Remember no one reads more than six lines• Remember no one reads more than six lines
• Emails biodegrade if left long enough• Emails biodegrade if left long enough
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.