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The relentless ping-pong of our email inbox is a workplace distraction that can lead to lost focus and a daily to-do list that doesn't get done.

Over several years, Georgetown University Professor Cal Newport has whittled down his email checks to just once or twice a week.

Newport is perhaps best known for his 2016 book "Deep Work", about how to overcome distraction to focus. His latest book, "A World Without Email", explores how people can cut the noise surrounding their inboxes.

His theory is that it is the "hyperactive hive mind" and the associated back-and-forth messaging between colleagues to make decisions stops us from focussing, denting our productivity and sense of calm.

"There are two ways to attack the problem," he tells Insider. "One is to tackle your habits and how you interact with your inbox.

"It assumes the communication is necessary and questions how often you check it and how you write the messages you have to send."

"The second is the way you work and collaborate: the workflows, rules and guidelines. You need to get specific and intentional about those underlying processes, spelling out how you want to communicate."

These are his four tips on how to limit the impact of the email tsunami on your work.

1. Reduce unscheduled emails

The main issue isn't inbox-checking while you work but the attention-hungry "unscheduled" messages that filter into them, Newport says.

You are doing something, then an unexpected email lands, distracting you and possibly prompting a stream of replies.

"Businesses should ask is 'How do we minimize how many emails will arrive at an unscheduled time and in turn will require a response?'"

This entails finding better processes for communicating be it on the phone or via a project organization board such as Trello to allow you to maintain focus.

"Put in place another method of collaborating that gets the job done, with less messaging," Newport says, adding that if you just check inboxes less often, you will simply respond to things more slowly.

For the recent launch of his book, Newport and his publicity team decided to create a shared document.

They would enter interview opportunities, he would add notes, confirm dates and accept calendar invites. In emergencies, his team could call or text.

"Roughly 200 inbox checks were replaced with a couple of checks a week," Newport says. "For me, that's a huge win. You don't want to prioritize in-the-moment convenience, you want to prioritize eliminating unscheduled messages that require context shifts."

Setting rules and guidelines is also crucial for dealing with clients a clear communication system from day one will ensure customer confidence as well as your ability to deep-work, says Newport.

"Clarity trumps accessibility," he adds.

2. If your workplace won't change, change yourself but don't feel like you have to announce it

Until companies decide otherwise, it's likely most will continue to rely on rapid email checks and responses to make decisions. So, Newport said, you should lead the way.

To kick-start personal change, Newport recommends identifying the key tasks of your working day and from there, ascertaining what duty requires what kind of communication for optimal performance.

But announcing your new email attitude to all and sundry isn't necessary. "Don't advertise the changes you're making and why that just gives hard edges for people to push up against," he said.

"You could even be nudging your team towards these new processes without them knowing it."

3. Limit the ways you can access your inbox

If your reflexive instinct is to check your email on your phone, remove the temptation.

Having identified his phone's inbox as a focus drain ("I was very frustrated with it for a long time") and realizing he was looking at it "as something to do", Newport uninstalled his emails and chose not to authenticate Google on the device, meaning he couldn't check that way either.

Instead, he now looks at his inbox "once or twice" a week, intentionally logging on to a computer rather than idly opening an app.

Another trick, counterintuitively, is to have multiple email addresses. Newport currently has six different addresses, each for different communication strands.

This means he can check the most relevant account, without the noise of the others, doing away with the "inefficiency" of an allpurpose inbox.

4. Think about the post-WFH workplace Newport is expanding his face-to-face office hours to make up for his email reduction

A year of remote working has intensified messaging. Some of this may die down when offices reopen.

"It's social psychology," Newport adds. "If I see you in person, I'm likely to think twice about emailing you something that will put more work on your plate."

But as workplaces prepare to reopen post-lockdown, there is a great opportunity to consider what you want for the future of your communications.

Newport already has a plan for when he returns to campus in the fall.

"I'm going to lean into office hours harder when we're back on campus," he says. "I'm probably going to make them longer, so I can handle more.

"I have a lot of students, including those who want to talk about my books or my podcast, and I always just say: 'here's my office hours, my door's open'. I want to push back more towards that."

He adds: "Until we can get rid of the underlying assumption that back-and-forth messages is how to figure things out, we're not going to solve the problem.

"The focus needs to move from 'individuals are approaching their inboxes wrong' to 'organizations are organizing their work wrong'."

Link:

How to Cut Back on Emails, From the Professor Who Checks His Inbox 'Once or Twice' a Week - Business Insider