From New York Times bestselling author Cal Newport comes a bold
vision for liberating workers from the tyranny of the inbox–and
unleashing a new era of productivity.
Modern knowledge
workers communicate constantly. Their days are defined by a
relentless barrage of incoming messages and back-and-forth digital
conversations–a state of constant, anxious chatter in which nobody
can disconnect, and so nobody has the cognitive bandwidth to perform
substantive work. There was a time when tools like email felt cutting
edge, but a thorough review of current evidence reveals that the
“hyperactive hive mind” workflow they helped create has become a
productivity disaster, reducing profitability and perhaps even
slowing overall economic growth. Equally worrisome, it makes us
miserable. Humans are simply not wired for constant digital
communication.
We have become so
used to an inbox-driven workday that it’s hard to imagine
alternatives. But they do exist. Drawing on years of investigative
reporting, author and computer science professor Cal Newport makes
the case that our current approach to work is broken, then lays out a
series of principles and concrete instructions for fixing it. In A
World without Email, he argues for a workplace in which clear
processes–not haphazard messaging–define how tasks are
identified, assigned and reviewed. Each person works on fewer things
(but does them better), and aggressive investment in support reduces
the ever-increasing burden of administrative tasks. Above all else,
important communication is streamlined, and inboxes and chat channels
are no longer central to how work unfolds.
The knowledge
sector’s evolution beyond the hyperactive hive mind is inevitable.
The question is not whether a world
without email is coming (it is), but whether you’ll
be ahead of this trend. If you’re a CEO seeking a competitive edge,
an entrepreneur convinced your productivity could be higher, or an
employee exhausted by your inbox, A World Without Email will
convince you that the time has come for bold changes, and will walk
you through exactly how to make them happen.