Email Is Making Us Miserable — Here's What to Do About It

The Art of Manliness

Philosophy, Society & Culture, Education

4.7 • 14.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2021

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Each day you begin work with high hopes for productivity and creativity. But each day you instead find yourself bogged down in checking and answering emails and responding to messages on Slack. As frustrating as this is, it just seems like the inevitable, unalterable dynamic of modern jobs.

But my guest today says that another way of working is possible, and it could unleash a tidal way of new productivity. His name is Cal Newport, and he's a professor of computer science and the author of several books, including his latest, A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Information Overload. Cal describes how email and chat channels have created what he calls "the hyperactive hive mind," and the costs to productivity, well-being, and focus that this hive mind incurs. He then explains why we feel the need to quickly respond to messages, even if rationally we know they’re not urgent. Cal then lays out practical ways to replace the hive mind with a more effective way of working, and why it involves concentrating on processes over messaging, increasing intellectual specialization, a return to hiring support staff, and, counterintuitively, more friction and less convenience. Cal also offers advice on how to make these changes at your office, even if you're not in a position of authority.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Brat McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:11.2	Each day you begin work with high hosts for productivity and creativity.
0:14.2	But each day you instead find yourself bogged down and checking and answering emails and
0:17.8	responding to messages on Slack.
0:19.8	As frustrating as this is, it just seems like the inevitable, unautical dynamic of modern
0:24.1	jobs.
0:25.1	Just something you have to do.
0:26.1	But my guest day says that another way of working is possible, and it can unleash a
0:29.0	tidal wave of new productivity.
0:30.0	His name is Cal Newport, he's a professor, computer science, and the author of several
0:33.9	books including his latest, A World Without Email.
0:36.9	Reimagining work in an age of information overload.
0:39.3	Cal describes how email and chat channels have created what he calls the hyperactive
0:42.5	hive mind and the cost of productivity, well being and focus that this hive mind
0:46.3	incurs.
0:47.3	He then explains what we feel the need to quickly respond to messages.
0:50.1	Even if we rashly know they're not urgent, Cal then lays out practical ways to replace
0:53.7	the hive mind with more effective ways of working.
0:56.0	And why it involves concentrating on processes over messaging, increasing intellectual
0:59.8	specialization, and return to hiring support staff and counterintuitively more friction and
1:04.5	less convenience.
1:05.9	Cal also offers advice on how to make these changes at your office, even if you're not
	...

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