EA

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTITIONER

Title: Emailaholics Anonymous

Competency: managing self, self-development, time management, technological leadership

Who benefits: any email user, IT types

Consultant Usage: self-development, time management consultants

What’s it about? John Freeman has written a 2011 book with the fantastic title of The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four-Thousand-Year Journey to Your Inbox. 

First and foremost this is a self-help book.  It is not likely to be of interest to most readers.  It is for those of us who are absolutely overwhelmed by our email in-baskets.  When I write of “us” I include myself.  I have unanswered email that goes back two years.   When it comes to dealing with emails effectively I am paralyzed.

My in-basket is clogged with good intentions. 

I need to be in a self-help group.  I tried to start an Emailaholilcs Anonymous group near where I live.  There were literally 100s of interested persons.  But holding a first meeting was fruitless.  No one came.  Some emailed me that while they were sure they needed the group, they just couldn’t find the time.  Most just never answered my email invitation.

Freeman writes: “In 2009, it has been estimated that the average corporate worker will spend more than 40 percent of his or her day sending and receiving some two hundred message….  E-mail goes with us everywhere now.  We check it on the subway, we check it in the bath.  We check it before bed and upon waking up.  We check it even midconversation, blithely assuming that no one will notice.”

He also has a great line from another author about considering declaring “E-mail bankruptcy.”  Made me smile at the possibility. 

The book is long on the history of email, email facts, email trivia, and email problems.  It is lighter than what I would like on email solutions.  But it is a good start.

He has some interesting chapter headings including:

-This Is Your Brain on E-mail
-Manifesto for a Slow Communication Movement
-Don’t Send

In summary, it didn’t do everything I wanted.  But it is a most interesting read and maybe like all of us who read self-help books, I wanted it to be the answer when really the answer is inside me.  If it helps me get out of denial it is a worthy investment.

Catch you later.

[tags] managing self, self-development, time management, technological leadership, email, e-mail, envisia, envisia learning, bill bradley, william bradley, bradley[/tags]

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.