Email Lets Other People Schedule Your Life—Here’s How to Stop It 拒絕生活圍著電郵轉

菲爾·西蒙 章逍然

If you feel like you’re playing Whac-a-mole with your inbox， you’re not alone. Somewhere along the line1， email became the default means of communication in corporate America. The Radicati Group2 estimates that the average knowledge worker receives around 100 emails every day， a number that is rising at around 15% per year.

Think about it. If you work 50 hours per week， then 14 of them are spent reading and writing emails. I doubt that you spend as much time in any one application， including Microsoft Word and Excel.

Perhaps these numbers wouldn’t be problematic if email were an effective communications medium. To be sure， it can be—for certain types of discrete exchanges. Much of the time， however， it’s not. Yes， email has its place， but we’ve become far too enamored with it. Constantly checking it makes us stupid.

For years， email has been scourge of business communications. Yet far too many of us blame email for our woes. We love blaming “technology” because but it’s harder for us to look in the mirror. If we do， then we’ll realize that the problem isn’t email; it’s how we use it.

The goal is not to eliminate all email altogether， although some employees have essentially done just that. The goal is to use it more intelligently. Think of email as just one club in the bag.

How to begin？

Reject the notion of a “conversation” over email

There is no such thing as a real conversation over email. Period3. The back-and-forth of emails and text messages offer the appearance of intimacy. Unfortunately， it’s a false one， as Justin Kruger of New York University and Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago proved.

The two psychologists showed that people could only accurately determine sentiment in text-based communications about half of the time. Emoticons and emojis aside， others often can’t tell when we’re being sarcastic， serious， or comical. Misunderstandings often result. Are you willing to flip a coin that others fully understand your message？

Abide by a three-email rule

Once you’ve accepted this fact， then it’s time to take action. I abide by a three-email rule： After three， we walk4. What’s more， I am not shy about invoking it for administrative matters （such as setting up meetings） and sensitive matters （such as difficult conversations）.

The rule has saved me a great deal of time and frustration. To be fair， though， not everyone likes it. I invoked it a few months ago and a perennially “busy” friend of mine promptly responded with， “I hate you.” Every organization in the world should adopt it. Sure， one can see the case for legitimate exceptions， but it’s high time to change our “default to email” mind-set.

Ban “urgent” emails in your company

If an issue truly is urgent， then employees should not be sending emails to one another. Opt instead for the phone.

Use something other than email to manage your tasks

Email wasn’t designed as a task-management application， yet many employees use email for precisely this purpose. As a result， it is it any wonder that they become distracted？ You check your inbox for an update on a key project or task only to get derailed by a stream of unrelated work or personal messages？ It’s easy to get distracted and forget what you were trying to do in the first place.

For task management， use a separate application. I’m a big fan of Todoist， but DropTask， GetFlow， HiTask， and scores of others offer a superior way to work. There’s no single replacement for email; it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. The same holds true for project-management. Trello， Asana， and Basecamp are just some of the affordable， user-friendly tools that minimize the need for incessant email chains.

Look for communication canaries in a coalmine5

Few， if any， people take a job with complete freedom. As such， they are often unable to choose their existing colleagues， clients， partners， and staff. When assessing a potential relationship， though， things are different. Some people are too “busy” to be bothered with quick phone conversations. They would rather send 10 messages than talk to you for two minutes in person.

In these cases， pay close attention to how others communicate （read： words， methods， and the like）. Ask yourself if you really want to interact with people who are averse to phone conversations and simple language. Try to vet job applicants， potential partners， and vendors early on. If they are averse to phone conversations， then what are the odds that they will change their tune down the road？

Realize that there is life beyond email

Are you afraid of moving away from your inbox？ It’s understandable， but your organization wouldn’t be exactly be trailblazing. Companies like Klick Health do not use email internally. As its current CEO Leerom Segal frequently says， “Email is the ultimate tool for letting other people prioritize your day for you.”

如果感覺處理收件箱就像在“打地鼠”，那你絕非個例。不知何時起，電郵成為了美國默認的職場交流方式。據瑞迪卡迪公司估計，知識工作者現在平均每天收到約100封郵件，且這個數字正以每年約15%的速度增加。

試想，如果每周工作50小時，那就有14小時花在了讀寫郵件上。我懷疑，即使在微軟的Word和Excel等應用軟件上也花不了這么長時間。

如果電郵是有效的交流媒介，那這些數據反映出的問題或許還不大。確實，個別看，它在某些交流上很好用，但是，多數情況下沒那么有效。電郵確有其用，可我們過于迷戀它了，頻繁查看郵件會讓我們變傻。

多年來，電郵在公務交流中制造了很多麻煩，但太多人將其歸咎于電郵本身。我們樂于批判“科技”，就因為自省更難。若稍加反省，我們便會意識到問題不在電郵，而在于我們如何使用它。

有些員工已經徹底拋棄了電郵，但我們的目的并非如此。我們是要更合理地使用它，將它視作一種可選的工具。

如何開始呢？

別指望通過電郵“交談”

電郵絕無可能架構起真實的交談。電郵和短信來往會展現出貌似親密的聯系。可惜，紐約大學的賈斯汀·克魯格教授和芝加哥大學的尼古拉斯·埃普利教授已經證明，那不過是假象。

根據這兩位心理學家的研究成果，當人們通過文本交流時，僅有一半幾率能準確判斷文字中包含的情感。拋開表情符號，收信人常常無法辨別發信人的語氣究竟是嘲諷、嚴肅還是滑稽的。誤解往往由此產生。如果對方準確理解信息的概率就像擲硬幣一樣，你還愿意用這種方式交流嗎？

遵從“三封電郵”規則

一旦接受了上述事實，就該立刻行動起來。我一直遵從“三封電郵”規則：如果三封電郵還解決不了問題，就放棄。我也從不羞于將其貫徹到處理行政事務（如組織會議）和敏感事件（如艱難的對話）中。

這一規則為我節省了大量時間，也減少了很多挫敗感。不過，公平地說，不是所有人都喜歡。比如，幾個月前，我采用了一回“三封電郵”規則，一位永遠很“忙”的朋友迅速給我反饋：“我恨你。”世界上每個機構都應該采用這一規則。正當的例外情況當然存在，但真的是時候改變“默認通過電郵處理”的思維定式了。

在公司中禁止“緊急”郵件

如果事情真的緊急，員工就應當選擇電話而非電郵進行交流。

用其他方式替代電郵處理工作

發明電郵并非為了處理工作，可工作卻恰恰成了很多員工使用它的目的。結果他們因此分心也就不足為奇了吧。打開收件箱時，本想查看一個關鍵項目或工作的進展，卻被一大堆毫不相關的工作和私人郵件打亂計劃，這樣的情況有吧？電郵極易使你分心，讓你忘記最初打開郵箱的目的。

你可以選用其他應用軟件來處理工作。我是Todois的鐵桿粉絲，工作中使用DropTask、GetFlow、HiTask等軟件也都比郵件高效。若想用一種應用全面取代電郵不太可能，用什么取決于你要完成什么任務。同樣，在項目處理方面，Trello、Asana和Basecamp都可選擇，此外還有很多同類應用，不僅便宜、好用，而且可以最大程度減少對頻繁電郵往來的需求。

尋找交流中的危險信號

幾乎沒有誰的工作是完全自由的。嚴格來說，人們往往無法選擇現有的同事、客戶、工作伙伴和員工。然而，當評估潛在關系時，情況就截然不同了。有些人“忙”到簡短通話都無暇應付，寧愿發10條信息也不愿親自和你談上兩分鐘。

遇到這樣的情況，先密切關注他人是如何交流的（注意他們的用詞、方式等）。自問是否真的想和這些厭惡通話、不喜歡使用簡單語言的人交流。然后，盡早以此審查求職者、潛在工作伙伴和賣方。如果他們抗拒通話，那他們日后改變態度的概率又有多大？

意識到電郵之外尚有生活

你會害怕遠離收件箱嗎？這可以理解，但你所在的機構不一定是這一嘗試的先驅。可立格等公司在內部不使用電郵。可立格現任首席執行官里羅蒙·塞格爾常說：“電郵是讓別人掌控你日常的終極工具。”? ? □

（譯者單位：復旦大學）