Brian @ Wongside

Ars Technica has a great article on managing one’s e-mail inbox.  I think the only thing I’d add or clarify is to point number one on that article.

My “good friend” Mark Horstman (we’ve never actually met, but I love the Manager Tools podcast he does with Mike Auzenne, and since I’ve been a listener almost from day one, I totally feel a connection) always says that it’s ineffective to leave one’s Outlook running all day. E-mail should be checked a couple of times a day, and never first thing in the morning.

He also points out that there’s no such thing as an “urgent e-mail.”  If people really need to get a hold of you, they should pick up the phone and call.

At any rate, I’m the low man on the totem pole right now, so I don’t have much of a say as to whether or not my boss(es) or clients are sending me “urgent e-mails” that require immediate attention. But one day, when I’m a manager you can bet that I won’t send any “urgent e-mails.”