
Stop Checking Email So Often (2015) - colinprince
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/opinion/sunday/stop-checking-email-so-often.html
======
liquidise
I don't mean to hijack the focus from email specifically, but i find slack
suffers from the same, if not worse, issue. Without exception, the most
productive days i have had since my team adopted slack are the days when i
forget to open it in the mornings, and achieve hours of uninterrupted work.

All of these conversations, be it open-office/email/slack/etc are a rehashing
of something we all know: fewer distractions leads to increased productivity.
The trick is to balance that with collaboration and help channels, so the
product and collective productivity of a team is improved, not just an
individual's.

~~~
pgodzin
I work remotely from the rest of my team, and only started a few months ago.
Often, I have quick questions or clarifications that I can't ask about in
person, and need to ask over Slack. Sometimes I don't get responses for hours
(meetings, busy, etc), which blocks me on my tasks for the rest of the day. I
would be immensely less productive without reasonable latency back-and-forth.

I get needing time without distractions - but when your work is used / others
are dependent on it, how do you tradeoff that support?

~~~
dbcurtis
So I think it is necessary to differentiate between "deep work" jobs (See Cal
Newport's blog/books...) and "interrupt driven" jobs. Engineering design
generally is a "deep work" job. Long periods of uninterrupted concentration
are key to productivity.

Other jobs, like receptionist and office managers, for instance, are
interrupt-driven. Receptionists add value by responding quickly and handling a
continuous stream requests.

Now let's talk about engineering managers. Being an engineering manager is
IMHO, an interrupt-driven job. The job of an engineering manager is to tell
you where to find answers to your questions, or on a good day, actually answer
the question. The friction comes when an engineering manager does not
understand that the interrupt-driven nature of his/her job is not reciprocal.
A good manager will handle interrupts quickly, but only very judiciously use
the power to interrupt.

Another source of confusion is dev/ops. Anything operational will tend to be
interrupt driven. An engineering manager that has been running a high-
functioning dev/ops team that is a team of crack fire-fighters might be a very
disruptive force in a design engineering team if that manager expects a
constant volley of chat messages among the team.

~~~
yakult
It's perhaps more accurate to say there are 'deep work' tasks, and there are
'interrupt driven' tasks, and any job is a combination of both, in various
ratios. Often you can't even tell ahead of time whether a given job is going
to be mostly one or the other.

Maybe what we need is a system where instant messages are allowed, but it
imposes a cost of some kind to the person initiating it, so that it won't be
used frivolously. Like the proof-of-work antispam captchas, except it should
take ~30 seconds and be just once per conversation (defined as ending when 5
minutes go by without message; first replies are free).

We could also add a social cost by displaying how often each user has used
this feature in the past 24 hours, next to their username.

~~~
morgante
This is a great point. It's really important to recognize the nature of
different tasks and to build different habits around them.

As a startup founder, by far my two biggest tasks are customer acquisition and
development. The former is interrupt-driven while the latter is emphatically
deep work.

Right now, I try to address this by blocking off 4 hours a day for deep work
and the rest of the time is available for sales and general operations. It's
working okay but the big problem is that I have an added stress of worrying
what important customer messages I might be missing during my deep work time.

------
paulmd
I think this is especially important for developers. Our jobs are very
intellectually complex, we have to constantly maintain a mental model of the
code as we trace a bug back from the place it manifests to where it
originated, as well as when formulating a solution to correct the bug that
won't break anything else in the program.

When you get popped out of "the zone", you don't just lose the two minutes it
takes you to answer your coworker's question, you also are losing the 15-30
minutes of context that you built up about the behavior of the problem.

Donald Knuth phrased it thusly: "Email is a wonderful thing for people whose
role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to be on
the bottom of things. What I do takes long hours of studying and
uninterruptible concentration. I try to learn certain areas of computer
science exhaustively; then I try to digest that knowledge into a form that is
accessible to people who don't have time for such study."

It's bothered me in the past, now I'm thinking about doing something about it.
Like disabling desktop notifications in Outlook for anything that's not
flagged Important.

~~~
douche
> I think this is especially important for developers. Our jobs are very
> intellectually complex, we have to constantly maintain a mental model of the
> code as we trace a bug back from the place it manifests to where it
> originated, as well as when formulating a solution to correct the bug that
> won't break anything else in the program.

No one has posted it yet, so here it goes:

[http://heeris.id.au/2013/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-
interrupt-...](http://heeris.id.au/2013/this-is-why-you-shouldnt-interrupt-a-
programmer/)

I've got it printed out and pinned to my bulletin board.

------
cagrimmett
My method to stop compulsively checking messages yet still be responsive to my
clients' support emails was to institute the Pomodoro Method (25 minutes on a
task, 5 minutes off, repeat for the whole work day). I close off all
communication (Slack, email, Skype, etc) for the 25 on-task minutes and only
check them during the 5 minute breaks. If something urgent comes up, I
dedicate my next 25-minute task period to dealing with that item.

This has broken me of my involuntary email/Slack/IM checking and instead keeps
me focused on the task at hand.

~~~
TheOneTrueKyle
But shouldn't you be using that 5 minutes for relaxing instead of diving back
into stress.

Maybe an extended pomodoro session with an extra 3-5 minutes for team
communication?

~~~
cagrimmett
I've been mostly fine with my method because every 4 Pomodoro I take a long 30
minute break. Also, not every 5 minute sessions results in messages I need to
read and respond to, so those are essentially breaks.

------
unicornporn
Seriously. In this day in age, is email really the big threat? Email feels
like bliss to me, compared to the constant bombardment of information via
different instant messaging channels. Riot, Signal, Telegram, Wire and
WhatsApp ― yes, they're all installed on my phone and they are constantly
polling for my attention by blinking that notification led on my Android
phone. Yuk.

~~~
overcast
Seriously, remove those apps. For the few apps I keep on my iPhone, THEY ALL
have notifications DISABLED. No longer pestered by them, taunting me to log in
again and look.

------
dsmithatx
I've read this before and I'm sure it was posted here. If I don't check my
email 5-10 times daily I have 100+ message every few hours. I work in a
company of 90,000 people and I'm a lead devops engineer supporting around 70
developers.

Checking my email hourly during business hours and once after 5pm keeps my
inbox tidy and my stress level much lower. Last time I missed two days of work
I came back to 800 messages and it tooks weeks to catch up. The stress of
seeing 100s of messages is what gets to me. Constantly cleaning up my inbox is
the only way to avoid that stress.

Now if I was allowed to develop infrastructure as code all day this would be
very distracting. I hope for that Nirvana one day. However, since I do a lot
of support and people depend on me I need to constantly react and switch
gears.

~~~
kobeya
You need to reduce the amount of incoming mail. How do people like you
actually get any work done?

~~~
aninhumer
Alternatively, if someone gets that much email, it sounds like answering those
emails is their primary job, and they should discharge some other
responsibilities.

------
brchr
I find it really interesting that modern CPUs are designed for "interrupt
coalescing," where they group interruptions into clusters. It’d be great if
modern desktop/mobile OSes were designed for that: "Only notify me once every
5/10/30/60 minutes, but then tell me everything."

~~~
f_allwein
Would also fit well with the Pomodoro technique -
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique)

~~~
gumby
I have never understood the pomodoro idea. When I'm busy writing code the
_last_ thing I want to happen is to be interrupted by an alarm.

~~~
freehunter
That's exactly why I've never tried it. I haven't found many situations where
I can clock in at a specific time and clock out a few minutes later. 15
minutes, 25 minutes, however long that clock is set for, what if I haven't
even started to grasp the problem? And then I have to reset my mind?

Again, I haven't even tried it, but my technique usually consists of "start
working on a problem, stop working when you need a break". Works pretty well,
and there's no timer involved.

------
Namrog84
One of the things that's noticeably approved my life for personal emails is to
simply reduce the amount you get. I objectively examine newsletters and other
things as to if any value and if actionable do I ever take. I realized dozens
of things I was subscribed to weren't adding value.

Removed all but a few. Now I naturally check personal email less because of
less new mail coming.

Same with work emails. Those I can't unsubscribe from so I make rules to push
them into a subfolder of a folder I always have minimized for 85%. Then 10%
into subfolders in another expanded folder I do check. The rest hits my inbox.

As more inbox mail comes in. If it's something even semi consistent in nature.
I'll add rule. Otherwise I'll view it and move on.

It's less about checking email as often. As simply having less email to read
subject lines of, this indirectly causing less need to check email as
frequently

------
v64
When my manager stops freaking out when an email goes unanswered for 10
minutes (or I get a new job), then I'll stop checking my email so often.

~~~
BeetleB
If you check my comment history, you'll find I say this a lot:

When I last went job hunting, I would say to the interviewers:

1\. I will check email 3 times a day. When I come in, around lunch, and before
I leave. Is this a problem?

2\. Do I need to use any kind of IM on this job?

If lots of email bother you, set your standards higher.

Edit: Reading other comments, I should add: I also point out that physically
interrupting me in my cube is OK. Or calling me on my office phone. If it's
urgent, come to me or call me. If not, send an email. People treat IM as
"urgent" but then don't act as if it is. So I "ban" IM for myself.

~~~
scholia
_> I will check email 3 times a day. When I come in, around lunch, and before
I leave. Is this a problem?_

Was going to say exactly that. Works for me too. I'm amazed more people don't
do it.

I use a mail client set up so I'm not aware of any incoming email until I look
for it....

------
synthmeat
Generalized to communications - my phone serves as a notification hub for me
and it's on vibrate almost exclusively. Mostly, it's not even in the same room
as me.

Unless for specific intent, I don't ever have communication tools fired up on
laptop with exception of SMS' and phone call notifications through Continuity.

When I tell people about this, I usually get "stop being selfish" / "get off
your high-horse" looks. I don't really care.

------
combatentropy
Email is a social activity. It's not the greatest social activity, but it is
more social than programming. I find myself drawn to it partly for this
reason.

I don't know exactly what to do with that observation. But I know that the
reason I check my email more than once a day is threefold: (1) to feel
connected to other people, (2) to feel on top of things (the same urge that
drives me to read the news), and (3) to stay out of trouble with work, in case
there is some emergency on the website.

If I had a job where all I had to do was check email, and answer them from
what was already in my head, that might actually be fulfilling. Or if all I
had to do was work on one programming project per week, that would also be
great. But email and programming don't mix well.

------
bborud
I have no problems not checking my email. Email has become the dumping ground
for emphemera. Clingy bullshit from companies you have bought stuff from,
people who whine, automated emails from so many different places despite
adding new filters every week.

Want my attention? A handwritten note is actually the best way nowadays.
Because I only check my work email once or twice per day, and I only check my
personal email every two days or so.

~~~
rootlocus
I use a different mail for online accounts, shopping, whatever. I'm expecting
that mail to be full of spam, so I don't even check it (except for reseting
passwords).

------
peterhartree
I made a Chrome extension for Gmail which uses CSS to make your inbox hidden
by default [1]. This makes it easy to search your archives or compose new
messages _without seeing your inbox_.

Users of the extension report benefits that sound similar in kind and
magnitude to those mentioned in the article [2]. The median user has Gmail
open, but the inbox hidden, for 1.5 hours per day (mean: 4.5 hours).

I'm starting to think that "inbox hidden by default" should be the standard UI
for an email client.

[1] [https://inboxwhenready.org](https://inboxwhenready.org)

[2] [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/inbox-when-
ready-f...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/inbox-when-ready-for-
gmai/cdedhgmbfjhobfnphaoihdfmnjidcpim/reviews?hl=en)

~~~
Ajedi32
Google Inbox has this built-in. Just turn on the pinned toggle at the top of
the screen.

------
jayajay
If you are checking a feed like email, or chat, you are expecting a new item.
If you fail to get a new item 9/10 times you check the feed, it certainly
makes sense that you may feel stressed or feel like you have less control over
things. You can't control when the items come into your feed. 9/10 times, you
are hyping yourself up to expect something, and then getting disappointed when
it's not there. I think this kind of result is true for anything that requires
_waiting_ for something out of your control. The train, the doctor's office,
replies to your comment, etc.

~~~
j-c-h-e-n-g
Here's the solution I follow for the problem(s) you point out:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=circle+of+concern&espv=2&biw...](https://www.google.com/search?q=circle+of+concern&espv=2&biw=1018&source=lnms&tbm=isch)

~~~
jayajay
Interesting, and introspective. I think I _now_ remember doing this in 2nd
grade. We don't wanna forget about the things in the circle of concern, but we
don't want to dwell on them unless we can actively influence them. If one is
keen to dwell on something in the circle of concern, they should make an
effort to move it into the circle of control.

------
pjlegato
Yes. People. This. And it applies even more to texts.

It prevents you from fully interacting with the people who are actually around
you when you pull out your phone every 30 seconds to fire off a quick text
reply.

There is _absolutely no reason_ to check your texts on a continuous basis, as
they come in. It makes you nervous and instills a perpetual low-grade anxiety
in you.

If it's an emergency, they'll call you. If it's not, then it can wait.

tl;dr check notifications in batches, at predetermined checkin points, rather
than continuously throughout the day. You'll be happier for it.

~~~
toki5
I am a hyper paranoid person. If I don't check my phone, I think that someone
might have messaged me. If my phone's notification light is blinking, I think
of all the things it could be; the possibilities occupy 100% of my brain. I
think -- what if mom just got hit by a bus? What if my doctor's calling me
with test results? What if my sister's just found out she's having a baby?

These things are rarely the case. 90% of the time it's a spam e-mail or a note
from a friend that doesn't need to be addressed right away. But I will still
think about these things, and actively worry about them, until I read the
message.

So it helps to put the phone away, somewhere where I can't see it, on silent
so I can't hear it -- even still, I have to check it at frequent intervals,
without a real pattern, because a random glint in the corner of my glasses
will make me think "oh was that my phone? Wait, my phone's in the other room.
I wonder if I have messages? Shit, what if someone's been trying to contact
me?"

~~~
pjlegato
Yes, exactly!

The solution is simple (but not necessarily easy): turn off _ALL_
notifications and badges and vibrations, except for the actual telephone
function (i.e. when people call you synchronously, a traditional phone call.)
Disable all the rest entirely. No blinking, no vibrating, no numeric badges
with little numbers quietly ticking up and up in the corner.

Then tell all your important friends and relatives and co-workers to just call
you on the phone, a real traditional synchronous phone call, if something
truly important happens.

------
makecheck
It might be neat to apply machine learning to something like incoming messages
(whether E-mail or text or otherwise), to automatically determine the real
importance of a communication based on how you classify other messages.

After awhile, it should be possible to achieve minimal interruption, based on
what _you_ consider worthy of an interruption.

I know that I don’t like simple solutions like marking E-mail as “important”.
In my experience, some people will _always_ mark their stuff as “important”
and _their definition_ is not _my definition_.

~~~
ergl
Spark already does this. It classifies emails into "personal", "newsletters"
and a few others — it will only notify you of personal emails.

~~~
NAHWheatCracker
My understanding of what makecheck is talking about is a more personalized
sort of classification, though. I haven't used Spark, but it seems from what I
see that this aspect of the product just classifies a few generic types of
emails that everyone receives. However; I don't think Spark learns to
classifies emails that only I receive. Like I always instantly delete emails
from Debby in marketing about upcoming customer engagement sessions. If you
could create your own category, and add new emails to that category and once
you have a statistically relevant number, ML could start classifying that
stuff.

On the other hand, who needs ML when you can just set up a filter to
automatically delete emails from Debby with the word "Customer Engagement" in
the title.

------
adamconroy
That's a great title for a self-help book. I'll read it once I finish 'How to
look out the window'. It never occurred to me that obsessive email checking
could be a distraction or a negative thing, but now someone has done a study
of 124 people it has made me sit up and think, but alas I can't figure out how
to stop so I'll need someone to tell me.

------
drops
Nowadays there's not much reason to actually check the email manually because
of all the mail-checking browser extensions.

This of course brings up another problem: getting the emails as they arrive
can be as distracting as constant stream of notifications from messengers and
team chats like Slack.

------
overcast
I've disabled all noises, vibrations, and 99% of notifications on my phone.
For the few apps I do use, all of them are disabled from pushing
notifications. Only iMessage and Unibox(email) get placed into the
notifications queue. I just can not be glued to this thing anymore.

------
antirez
We don't have this problem, too busy checking Hacker News to check the email
often.

------
spraak
s/Email/HN/g for me

------
zakki
I should add "don't check HN too often" to myself.

------
tete
It's funny (and sad), but people, even when they are not actively interrupted
tend to check things like Hacker News a lot when they live in an environment
with many interruptions.

This kind of aligns with the idea (backed to some degree by various studies)
that trying to do multiple things, which you are doing in such an environment
leads to people finding it hard to focus and distracting themselves.

------
jimmaswell
I just look at my notifications when I pick up my phone to check what new
emails came in, if it's important I'll either reply to it there or if I need
to reply later with something I need a PC for I'll leave the notification up
so I remember later. I don't have any issue with this and it seems pretty much
perfect to me. I don't get the problem.

------
edgarvaldes
I check my email once an hour. I hate the feeling of imminent distraction, so
I close the email client and open it again one hour later.

------
sengork
Each to his own but checking email should be done strategically. There are
plenty of people who are more than happy to elect to clean out low attention
and no value emails inside their work inboxes even when on leave via mobile
phones. It makes their 1st day/week back at work all that much less involved
in email.

------
sauronlord
Perhaps if we read less email we would have more time to read articles on the
nytimes and be subjected to shitty ads.

------
keyle
That's when you don't get someone sending you an email and then coming to your
desk right after that saying "Hey, so, I've just sent you this email, you
don't have to respond right away, but huh, it's about this client... <20 mins
of rambling nonsense>"

------
tete
Even though it's about the design of Unix (tools) this seems to be mildly
related:

[http://www.linfo.org/rule_of_silence.html](http://www.linfo.org/rule_of_silence.html)

------
ClassyJacket
I haven't checked my email since 2008. I didn't think many people still did.
My phone simply alerts me when one comes, and at work it appears on my screen.

~~~
scholia
Can I assume you don't get 150 emails a day? Or maybe you just have clever
filtering that blocks the junk ;-)

------
6stringmerc
For a while Xobni was elite at being able to see metrics and dashboard like
stats for email communications. Not sure about the Infinity Version though...

------
cel1ne
I removed access to my email-account from my iPhone. Never regretted it.

------
larodi
NYTimes with its lengthy articles is the most ridiculous place to find tips
about how-to-stop-being-distracted-by-bs... Not to mention, that NYTimes is
some 10 (if not 20) years behind schedule with this particular article...

------
ourmandave
But email tells me when there's a Facebook update.

------
acbabis
When I saw this in the HN feed, my first thought was "I should see if I got
that email"

