Comments on: Email Sanity

By: Web 2.0 Expo Blog » Blog Archive » danah boyd on Email Sabbaticals

Web 2.0 Expo Blog » Blog Archive » danah boyd on Email Sabbaticals — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:30:47 +0000

[...] January I wrote about a speaker I had contacted who was on email sabbatical. I didn’t name her at the time, but it was danah boyd, who, being back from sabbatical now, [...]

By: Carl Morris

Carl Morris — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:37:58 +0000

Well, this approach seems to be catching on.

I think as long as you’re clear with people so they can adjust their expectations, it’s the most honest thing. And therefore the most professional.

Merlin Mann of 43folders agrees
http://www.43folders.com/2008/12/09/pretending

By: Janetti Chon

Janetti Chon — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:15:16 +0000

Regarding setting expectations, check out what Expo New York’s keynote Gary Vaynerchuk sends in response to every email he gets:

http://tv.winelibrary.com/garyvs-inbox

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:10:53 +0000

Missing video. Another link?
A successful day is when I have 0 emails in my inbox that I received that day. But then on my drive home I realize I didn’t get much accomplished because I was at my desk all day instead out with the people I work for.

By: steve weiss

steve weiss — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:43:32 +0000

Interesting to see this.
I’ve considered doing something similar next time I’m on vacation (as if): Setting an auto response that folders all mail received in a set period, and replies to incoming messages saying, essentially, “I’m on personal time off from [date] to [date] and will not be receiving your message. Due to the high volume of email and the impossibility of ever catching up, your message won’t be read when I return. Please resend your message after [return date].”
This way, the incoming messages are still available for your use later if you need them, but the sender gets their expectations re-set, realistically..

Call it a sabbatical, call it email chapter 11, call it common sense.
The most common plaint i hear from colleagues returning from vacation is that they dread returning to their in box, to the point where time-off isn’t especially beneficial to them, and their productivity is low for at least a week after they return.

By: Karen OBrien

Karen OBrien — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:30:36 +0000

Hi Jennifer – love this post, its very timely when coming back to an avalanche of email and voice mails after the holidays.

I remember a well-known executive once said when he came back from vacation he took the 100′s of emails in his inbox and simply deleted them – he said that if anything was really urgent enough someone would get on him – and it sounds very logical – instead of spending hours going through your emails – wait to see what comes back to you and deal with that.

After spending a half day during my vacation just trying to consolidate my to-do lists I finally gave up, unplugged for 4 days and actually enjoyed the down time. I figured if anything was truly urgent, someone would call me – and thankfully no one did. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy and just need to give ourselves permission to unplug.

By: toms

toms — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:18:51 +0000

It’s an auto reply you wouldn’t expect in the first place. I really like that approach and don’t think it’s unprofessional. Here is an e-mail of the same nature I received this summer and also thought it was worth a blog post: http://tinyurl.com/8lx4ey enjoy!