ChangeThis :: When You Absolutely, Positively Should NOT Use Email: A Civilized List

Interesting "manifesto" -- see the source below for a pdf download. 

For those of us email addicts who can’t quit cold turkey but are increasing stressed by the size of our inbox each morning, Shipley and Schwalbe offer advice for managing our input and output in this engaging manifesto.

Excerpt:

One of the biggest problems with email is that people use it reflexively: Get an email? Reply by email! Have a random thought while you are sitting next to your desktop or laptop or when your handheld is at hand? Fire off an email! Sure, there are good emails and bad emails. But there are also a lot of emails that never should have been emails in the first place: They should have been calls, letters, visits, or nothing. Everytime you choose a form of communication other than email, or choose not to communicate at all, there’s a bonus: Simply the best way to cut down on email is to send fewer emails.

And yet, the real benefit of sending fewer emails is far greater than a blessedly more sparsely populated inbox. Consider this: Too many of us send emails that seem like a good idea at the time but tear at the fabric of our relationships and create damage that can last forever. And too many of us send email that is just plain inconsiderate—email that makes our world a slightly less pleasant place to work and live. There is a huge social and karmic dimension to indiscriminate and inappropriate emailing. And there is a huge karmic benefit to knowing when to stop.

I'm not certain, but I think the net of their advice (don't email when you're right, wrong, mad, drunk, etc.) is to not use email at all... :)

ChangeThis :: When You Absolutely, Positively Should NOT Use Email: A Civilized List