I’ll begin with the most ironic part of this article — that to remind myself to write it, I emailed myself with the title in the subject line. This title refers to a growing number of emails in my inbox, and in yours, which demand a reply as soon as absolutely possible. Mine range from the professional — quote requests or application deadlines — to the sarcastic funny photo or YouTube video.
At a summer retreat with the Dalai Lama Fellows, I attended a workshop on “Email Management.” I thought I’d finally figure out the secret to email management because at times (maybe you’re with me) I’ve felt like I was drowning in them. Turns out, so did everyone else. We found ourselves complaining about this feeling of urgency being a privileged problem, relieved that we each recognized this in each other, celebrating how we had acknowledged ourselves as a community.Our emails feel urgent for legitimate reasons. We don’t want to miss out on something important: a preceptor sending an altered assignment or a last-minute rehearsal schedule change. The University’s productivity culture is both our strength and weakness — we try to achieve great things, but sometimes lose our balance while juggling.
What I learned from the workshop was simple: the “secret” to managing emails (and everything else) was managing oneself. By acknowledging that I work better in the morning, I now carve out an hour or so to clear my inbox of anything important. I check it two or three more times, but have made it a goal to leave it for the rest of the day.
In a recent New York Times opinion column, Clive Thompson argued that work email should be limited to business hours to both increase productivity and happiness. He cites examples of German companies having their employees set their email to “holiday mode,” which literally deletes emails one received during vacation. I do not believe this could be feasibleat a school with finals after winter break nor do I think the University should hover over our happiness like that. However, we should ask ourselves: why do we feel the need to check our emails constantly? Are these emails truly urgent? Why do we like to place this urgency on others?
Here are the habits I’ve noticed in myself:
1. Checking my email before I sleep
2. Checking my email while waiting for a friend
3. Checking my email while walking (and inevitably tripping)
4. Noticing the urge to check my email when I go to the bathroom
5. Thoughtlessly “refreshing” on my phone
I’m an addict. And this has to stop. Some would call this insanity; my parents have joked it before. Like Van Gogh, we do not “suffer from insanity, but rather enjoy every minute of it.” Or do we?How should I be able to responsibly respond to an email while exhausted, in passing, or on the toilet? The real issue is not whether I’ll be able to construct a competent response, but why I have had trained myself to feel compelled to constantly check it.
According to a study at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, 68 percent of college students across American campuses reported checking their email during class. I distinctly remember the first time I did; it was also the last. I immediately tried to recall what my professor had said and couldn’t and realized I was wasting precious time. Although checking emails in class, before sleeping, or while walking works for some people, we should question ourselves nonetheless.
Every email I send before sleeping is one more minute the bright screen keeps me from solid sleep. Every email I send while waiting for a friend, is one less minute spent focusing on what that person might need. Every email I send while walking is one less moment I take to breathe and appreciate wherever I am.
If something is truly urgent, I will call you and ask. In the smart phone age, it’s hard to tell when I have your full attention, or if you have mine. I understand that sometimes we wait for interview results, or news about a surgery or a Skype call from across the ocean.
I pledge to not treat your time as mine, to not waste mine in the delusion that emails are that imperious and to not falsely force you into “urgency.”
Azza Cohen is a history major from Highland Park, Ill. She can be reached at accohen@princeton.edu.
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