Moving away from email at work
March 8, 2010 11:01 PM   Subscribe

I would like to move away from a work life which has become dominated by outlook calenders and email. For a variety of reasons, I think a clean break might ultimately be the best solution, but as the CEO of a medium sized non-profit, that seems to present a number of challenges. Does anyone have any experience making this type of shift?
posted by dougiedd to Technology (8 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
May I suggest looking at Inbox Zero.

Also, it's your life. Set clear boundaries. Promise yourself you will keep those boundaries in place. Let others know what the boundaries will be. They'll have to deal with it. And you know what – the sun will rise tomorrow.
posted by quadog at 11:08 PM on March 8, 2010


As a CEO you should have enough experience in planning and effecting change. Speaking from personal experience, probably one of the best things you can do at this juncture, while you are still clicking accept to meeting requests and reviewing presentations, is to actively plan what you want to accomplish in a new environment.

This is more difficult than it sounds as there are multiple issues as you stated. The best starting point is to answer the age old question - what do you want to do? I can assure you if you jump out of your boat and into the water without any direction, you will quickly sink.

1. Assess what your future wants and goals are outside of your current situation.
2. Examine the liabilities. Even at the executive level many people have financial, familial, spousal and other items which may affect the overall well being of you and those closest to you.
3. Find out what will drive you with the newly found time. Personally this is important. Some might be happy to take the boat out everyday and spend time with their children, however what is more likely for high achievers is a quick path to boredom. This requires a lot of soul searching and talking with your significant other.
4. Remind yourself that breaking free takes time. Don't use a month, take six months or a year to fully acclimate yourself to changing your situation, getting the plan correct and making sure it is what you want. The old adage of be careful what you ask for applies 10x more in this situation.
5. Involve your family at an early stage. Refering back to point 2, it is extremely important your supporters understand your motivations and can give you the support you need during the changeover.

That's the short presentation. I will leave it to the others to provide ancedotal advice and more information.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 11:20 PM on March 8, 2010 [1 favorite]


A few of the things that worked for me was realizing that it was okay to refuse meetings and force necessary meetings into specific days of the week, no matter what. This meant at least a few days of the week I didn't have to worry about an outlook calendar. As for email -- the Inbox Zero stuff works if you keep up with it and get into a habit. I found that if I paid attention only to the important emails, the rest I could get done in a batch whenever I felt like it.

Lastly, if you meant "clean break" as in leaving your position, then I'm not sure what the challenges are. You are entitled to do whatever you want to with your life and the organization will move on without you. However, it might make sense to at least try to mold the job into your ideal position before you move on. It couldn't hurt to try. You wouldn't necessarily want to leave if a simple change in habits could make the job ideal.
posted by thorny at 11:26 PM on March 8, 2010


Tell people you will only look at your inbox three times a day -- once in the morning, once after lunch, and once before you go home. Hell, make it twice a day. Then stick to it. If people need your input that much, they can call you.
posted by Etrigan at 6:07 AM on March 9, 2010


Video you might find interesting. The guy being interviewed is the CEO of a company that makes "alternative" workplace software. I've never personally used any, but know of it through friends and have seen it recommended several times here on the Green.

If you have a smart phone, set your email notification to silent. I can't stand it when blackberry addicted people treat email like IM. I find the whole notion of "Hey I need constant access to your mind! beep beep, here's an email, read me RIGHT NOW" really annoying, arrogant, and terrible for concentration. Tell people that email is not the time for "help my hair is on fire!" type communications with you. It's about establishing sovereignty over your own concentration and attention.

This might be a bit more out there, and not exactly under the scope of your question, but I think it's important for everyone to have time to themselves, and to their own minds. If you're at work all day, constantly interacting (or being interrupted by) other people, and then come home and watch TV, being interrupted by commercials, you might never really have time to think. Taking walks (no music), meditation, or light work with your hands (like paper folding, chopping veggies) are ways to do this.
posted by fontophilic at 8:50 AM on March 9, 2010


Paul Levy, the CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital gave up his Blackberry in December 2006. I haven't followed whether he has kept that up or not, but if he can do it, maybe you can, too.

Also, assuming you have an assistant, make good use of him or her. S/he is your gatekeeper who should be managing your calendar and making sure your days aren't too full or your time isn't wasted. If your assistant is not screening your email, have her start. You will save so much time if s/he can deal with things you don't need to be bothered with and flag what's important. This means that while you will still have a calendar and email to be managed, the time you devote to them will be decreased significantly.

To be honest, I don't think it's realistic or fair to your colleagues to do away with email and Outlook calendars completely. It's how the business world is run, and people have a reasonable expectation that these are tools you both use. Set boundaries, use your assistant, and do not be shy about saying no or delegating something. You may find that this provides you a more serene and balanced life without making yourself difficult to reach and inaccessible. Good luck!
posted by katemcd at 10:50 AM on March 9, 2010


As CEO, you have an obligation to your organization - if you don't feel that you can meet that obligation in the future, you should come up with a leadership transition plan.
posted by Pants! at 8:38 PM on March 9, 2010


Response by poster: lots of excellent advice : thanks
posted by dougiedd at 4:09 PM on March 14, 2010


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