August 9th, 2011
You’ve (not) got mail.
Illustration via Toothpaste for Dinner
Back in July, TechCrunch’s MG Seigler decided to quit email. You don’t have to read that twice. One month, and 10,000 unanswered emails later, he’s still at it and apparently making it work. It’s a bold idea, and just thinking about it makes my Blackberry-and-iPhone-clutching hands clammy. But if you do decide to forgo, here’s some takeaways:
- Social Media is your friend: In Seigler’s words:”Twitter is the anti-email.” Use it to receive questions and reply quickly and easily. You can then refer others to this Twitter-based knowledge bank if the same queries start to arise again and again.
- Get Chatty: Can it be resolved with a quick chat (or Skype) convo? With Facebook chat, Gchat, and now Google Hangouts, there’s almost no reason to not hash out problems chat to chat.
- Be a Jerk: Seigler realized that most emails are replies to emails, and more emails lead to ever more emails. Start ignoring emails and not replying unless absolutely necessary. Don’t reply just to send a “Thanks” or “Will do.” It may seem rude, but it’s for the greater good.
- Drop everything: Use shareables like Dropbox to move files around and store things in the cloud. No need to use email for attachments.
