![]() ![]() Essentially, it's a random rewards system, operating on a principle similar to a mechanism that psychologist B.F. To solve a problem you first have to understand what the problem is, and Glei succinctly dissects why we have become so compulsive about checking email. In concise (it's about 200 pages with some illustrations and not-very-small print), humorous, everyday language, it delves into the psychology of why it's so addictive lays out fundamental strategies to deal with it, and offers practical writing-style tips and "cheat sheet" scripts. "Unsubscribe" takes a three-part approach to mastering email. ![]() "A lot of it was a function of the increased autonomy that many people have – they're a one-person business or a small business or they're even working inside a larger business with an increasingly flat hierarchy where more and more you're having to self-manage everything, every aspect of your day, or your business or your career." Email as microcosm of our struggle with techĮmail is something of a microcosm of our struggle with technology, the single biggest tech tool that distracts people from meaningful work, Glei notes. The rest of us - even those in high-level management - are on our own, and this was a big reason Glei decided to write a book on email.Īt Behance's 99u, while curating content, writing, researching and editing, "I had been spending the better part of my days interviewing artists and learners and entrepreneurs about how they made their ideas happen and what emerged for me as a theme was that everyone was really fumbling with managing their attention, managing their time, managing their energy," she says. "That is, corporate heads, political leaders, spoiled movie stars and others whose time and attention are especially valuable have a staff of people around them who are effectively extensions of their own brains." "Successful people - or people who can afford it - employ layers of people whose job it is to narrow the attention filter," Levitin writes. The toll all of this takes is widely recognized, "Today, our attentional filters easily become overwhelmed," notes cognitive psychologist Daniel Levitin in " The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload."Ī select few pay for help. In other words, if you think you're great at doing a bunch of things at once, you're in all probability doing them poorly. In fact, studies show that there is a strong correlation between believing that you are good at it and the likelihood that you are, in fact, bad at it. Research shows that juggling email with other tasks at work lowers your IQ about 10 points, Glei says: "It's like smoking pot at work."Ĭhances are good that you are not in the 2 percent of the population that psychologists find can handle multitasking well. If you interrupt a project you're intensely focused on to go check email, it takes about 25 minutes to get back into your prior "flow state," Glei says. In order to become the master, rather than the slave, of the digital-oriented modern workplace, you need to understand that the so-called switching costs of multitasking weigh heavily on the human brain. Glei cites, for example, research revealing that for corporate managers, an average of two days a week (4.2 years of life!) is spent in meetings - and virtually no one finds all that time well spent. Group-chat tools like HipChat and Slack facilitate real-time group communications as well as one-to-one instant messaging but also can make it even more difficult to focus on work that demands your full attention.Īnd it's not only about apps. On average, office workers go into their inboxes 74 times a day, spending about 30 percent of their time on email, Glei notes. It's easy to understand why people need help. Glei herself has built an audience of human-resource and productivity management aficionados and is increasingly in demand as a event speaker and podcast guest. You can find rafts of books on time and performance management on Amazon and in the self-help section of brick and mortar bookstores. There apparently is a thirst for advice on how to deal with the distractions of modern life and our addiction to tech tools. While at 99u, Glei edited a series of books centered around productivity, time management and entrepreneurship for creative professionals, including " Manage Your Day-To-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind".
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |