Could we be witnessing baby-steps towards more appropriate personal communications methods?
We can spend up to half our working day going through our inbox, leaving us tired, frustrated and unproductive.
A recent study found one-third of office workers suffer from e-mail stress.
The article refers to Deloitte’s short-lived ‘no-internal-email-Wednesday’ which it reckons has made staff think more carefully about the email they send and whether there is a more appropriate communication method such as picking up the phone or talking face-to-face.
I agree, we should be more considered in our communications but our places of work on the whole haven’t even begun to embrace tools like IM, RSS, collaborative working, online project management, social networks etc etc.
My personal email traffic (both in- and out-bound) has significantly decreased since engaging with some of these tools. I refuse to subscribe to email lists – choosing RSS instead, and I use IM (if I can) to have quick conversations with friends. I use Google Groups to manage extra-curricular projects, Twitter keeps me in touch with friends and acquaintances and I use Facebook to organise my social life.
If only I could (or, more appropriately, was allowed to…) work more like this in my 9-5!
