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<html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word"xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta name=Title content="Email is Evil - II"><meta name=Keywords content=""><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=macintosh"><meta name=ProgId content=Word.Document><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name=Originator content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel=File-List href="email_is_evil_2_files/filelist.xml"><title>Email is Evil - II</title><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Author>Sanjiv Das</o:Author> <o:Template>Normal</o:Template> <o:LastAuthor>Sanjiv Das</o:LastAuthor> <o:Revision>3</o:Revision> <o:Created>2005-05-06T04:24:00Z</o:Created> <o:LastSaved>2005-05-06T04:24:00Z</o:LastSaved> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>837</o:Words> <o:Characters>4772</o:Characters> <o:Lines>39</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>9</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>5860</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>11.257</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:UseMarginsForDrawingGridOrigin/> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><style><!-- /* Font Definitions */@font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;}@font-face {font-family:"\FF2D\FF33 \660E\671D"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:16777216 0 117702657 0 131072 0;}@font-face {font-family:Verdana; panose-1:0 2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";}p.MsoPlainText, li.MsoPlainText, div.MsoPlainText {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Courier;}table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";}@page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 17.95pt 1.0in 17.95pt; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;}div.Section1 {page:Section1;}--></style></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US style='tab-interval:.5in'><div class=Section1><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><b>Email is Evil - II<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>A while ago I wroteabout the evils of email, primarily about its ability to destroy productivity.Today the San Francisco Chronicle (seehttp://scumis.scu.edu/~srdas/email_addles_mind.htm) reported on the results ofa Hewlett-Packard study that showed that overuse of email results in an IQ lossof 10 points. In comparison, regular marijuana use only drops IQ by 4 points.About 62 percent of respondents felt obliged to reply to their emails within anhour, and indeed they almost all did. Professor Debra Myerson (StanfordBusiness School) suggests that simply "being available at all times is asource of stress." Following the study HP has dissuaded employees frombringing laptops into meetings, and also advised against one-line emails saying"thanks" or such other response. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>Well, all this is notwhat I plan to write about. But it is symptomatic of the extensive ills ofcontinuous electronic engagement. So apart from the loss in intellectualproductivity I wrote about in an earlier blog, and setting aside thedeleterious effects on our IQs, I have over the past week, found that email hasa huge personal emotional cost to me. There is this new disease which I thinkneeds definition, which I will call EAD, for Email Attention Disorder. The majorcosts of this disease are emotional. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>I found that I wastrapped into dealing with emails as a response to any lull in my day. It hasworn me out completely. What I now realize is that a lull in the day shouldremain just that. Rushing around trying to fill it up responding to emails isno way to relax. Moreover, the lull is important, because it is like the pauseto catch one's mental breath before feeling renewed, and then plunging into anew task with renewed vigor. Email sucked away any real vigorous renewals Imight have had, and I have decided to make a call on that one. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>As an experiment, Idecided I would strictly restrict my accessing of emails to once a day. Not atany fixed time or anything, but just when I needed to send some emails out, thenI would take care of all the email business at that one time, and then, neverlog in again at all for the rest of the day. It has worked like a charm, butmainly in two important ways. One, I am feeling hugely relaxed for I havestepped off the treadmill and I hope I never ever have to get back on. Two, mycreative energy has come back, and I am being able to write again, with littledistraction. So, if once in a while, we are blessed and get lucky, this must beone of those times. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>There are now blocks oftime that I suddenly have wherein I can write well. Of course, by definitionthis is true. A block of time is one stream of uninterrupted moments in whichto immerse oneself into good work. By default, if email keeps interrupting,there cannot be a block of time. There are then only chips of the old block,and what good are those? Fragmentation of time breeds severe emotionaldiscontent. Moral: stop that email, de-fragment your time. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>In case I did not saythis often enough - email is evil - it destroys (a) your productivity, (b) yourIQ, and (c) your emotional well-being. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>I was away in India twomonths ago and was very busy but still felt entirely relaxed. And I realize nowthat a good part of the relaxed feelings came from not accessing email regularly,but only a few rare times on my visit. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>The other majorbyproduct of limited access to email is an improvement in conversationalquality. Having reduced my access, something unusual that is now occurring isthat my conversations are deeper, longer and more meaningful. I am not justtrying to respond in a knee-jerk manner, something that becomes second natureafter extensive email usage. Modern technology has changed human interactionfrom fewer periods of extended interaction, to hundreds of periods of minisculeinteraction. Just read that last sentence and ask which one you would prefer.No wonder most of us are confused about what happens with our time. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>But, the big catch isthat even if we all agree that too many short interactions are bad, we do nothingto stop it. In fact, we perpetuate it by idolizing those "always-on"people as being "productive" - why? Because it is really easy to beproductive in this way, and so the lowest common denominator prefers it. The"democracy of the busy"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>wins over the "minority of the productive". <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>Email has become thegreat new "passing the pillow" game. Its so easy to pass the buckwhen you don't need to speak to someone. Imagine playing this game every houryou are tethered to your desk. No wonder it makes us physically and emotionallytired. While cell phones also force you to be always on, they still contain ahuman element, whereas email is simply dehumanizing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>The instant responseelement of email also means that most often we reply without thinking clearly.We all know how often we have wished we could retract that last email we shotoff. I find that accessing email but once a day means that I take my time, dealwith each email more calmly, because I have set aside the time for it. I am nolonger trying to respond to an email while in the middle of something else. Itmakes for better communication by far. The quality of my email correspondencehas improved and the quantity has declined, both very welcome developments.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'>So there are two modesin which we may choose to live with email - synchronous and asynchronous. Itseems the bulk of the population is converging on the former, which means weare heading for an equilibrium in which life speeds up incessantly. Theemotional fallout of this is likely to be large. Hopefully more of us will opteventually for the asynchronous mode, and bring life back to a calmer, morewelcome pace. I am doing my bit for now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:Verdana'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>