According to Quad-Cities Online, U.S. Cellular and other Companies limit e-mail use to boost productivity. Sounds odd; how can something that improves productivity by its use also improve productivity when not used?
U.S. Cellular has declared “no e-mail on Fridays,” except for correspondence with customers. Some are quoted to say “that Fridays are often her most productive days because of the policy.”
This impression may depend on how one defines productivity. e-mail can improve productivity by reducing higher-cost alternatives such as meetings, especially those that involve travel. They facilitate hard conversations. e-mails can get a discussion going sooner, often sooner than one can find a time slot in everyone’s busy calendar. e-mails record what was said.
However, one can become a slave to e-mail. There a few things I do: (1) schedule when I do my e-mail (2) turn off those intrusive e-mail notifications (3) filter which e-mails I read and importantly which I respond to.
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