I’m a casual follower of Tim Ferris, recreational lifestyle guru and author of The Four-Hour Workweek. I honestly think the guy has some solid ideas when it comes to reducing stress and just generally having a more fun and fulfilling life. A recent post on his blog regarding e-mail autoresponders caught my eye:
Now, while I think the use of an autoresponder for vacation time when you will be genuinely unavailable by e-mail is appropriate, using it as an everyday tool seems over the top – spammy and unprofessional. Nonetheless, it is rare enough that I get an e-mail that honestly demands an immediate response that I’ve been seriously pondering ways to reduce the time I spend with it. Limiting my e-mail checking to two or three times a day seems perfectly reasonable. I’ve started today with two approaches:
- Previously I’ve had my e-mail client set up to automatically check e-mail every 30 minutes. Additionally, I have developed the very bad habit of checking mail manually every time I was bored! I called it the “Crackberry effect”. I’ve turned off the automatic feature, and I am training myself to stay away from that check e-mail button except for the appointed times. I’m not sure what those times will be yet – maybe 9, 1, and 4?
- I used to have e-mail automatically forward out of ANGEL so instructors could contact me through ANGEL should an emergency arise in a course that requires my attention. The unfortunate drawback to this was that I was getting a TON of e-mail that was not directed to me and that I was required to destroy. I’ve turned off this feature and direc