Writing in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Cal Newport asks a simple, yet important question: Is Email Making Professors Stupid? Newport’s essay challenges both faculty and the academic administrators who support them to carefully consider the potential damage of distraction generally and email specifically. In my book, How to Get Tenure: Strategies for Successfully Navigating the Process, I raised some of these same questions in the context of pre-tenure faculty. In today’s post, I want to share an excerpt from the book that addresses the problem with email.
The Monster in the Email Inbox
Email serves as a powerful communications tool. Yet I suspect that, for faculty, few things prove a greater source of frustration. From student messages to administrative requests, it can seem that very little good news comes in the form of email. Messages can easily derail your day. Even the best laid plans for grading papers or making progress on your latest manuscript can be undone by an email emergency. And even non-emergency email can prove dangerous. A better way to think about email is death by 1,000 cuts. Email can slice up your day and serve as a constant distraction, leaving you few precious minutes to focus on the things that will get you tenure.
For many people, the email inbox serves as their to-do list, filing cabinet, and junk drawer all in one. Too often, we forget the true purpose of an email inbox, which is simply a place for messages to initially land and be processed. Do you have more than 50 messages in your inbox right now? 100? 500? More? I don’t even want to know! For your own sanity, I suggest you gain control of your inbox. Truthfully, no one gets tenure because they are quick to respond to messages. Nevertheless, failing to get an inbox under control can severely hamper your tenure case. With the time pressures of tenure and of faculty life in general, you do not need the hassle of a chaotic email inbox. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps you can enact to help manage your email and even reduce the number of messages you receive on a daily basis.
1. Check Your Email Less
I have a phone in my office. I do not know its number, and I rarely get calls on it. Yet, if there is an emergency, I almost always receive a phone call. Even more likely, my department administrative assistant will probably send a quick text letting me know that something needs my attention. Even in today’s digital age, few truly urgent emergencies come via email. Even so, when email notifications constantly pop-up, email exerts control over you, and over tenure. Just because someone wants to get in touch with you does not mean they get to interrupt your carefully planned schedule. Think about it: If you stop your work to answer an email as soon as it arrives, you are implying that your work is not important.While I would not suggest anyone develop a reputation as someone who never responds to emails from students, administrators, or colleagues, I instead advocate a compromise between never responding to email and checking email constantly. Check your email three or four times per day—personally, I try to check mine morning, midday, and in the late afternoon. This allows me to stay on top of my email, respond to any immediate needs, and yet keep email from dominating my entire day. More often than not, I can knock out my messages in about 15 minutes by checking three times a day. While there are days I am in my email much more generally limiting my time allows me to be responsive and focus on my top priorities for the day.
2. Delay Sending Emails
Various email programs have different options to achieve this goal, but I rarely send a message as soon as I complete it. Instead, I set the email to send in a few hours or, typically in the case of students, the next day. My goal in this is to train anyone who emails me to expect that they will not get an immediate response. I find this particularly helpful with students because it teaches them not to expect instantaneous responses, which I suspect reduces how many emails they send to me in the first place. Instead of asking me a quick question that is answered on the syllabus because they know they can get in touch with me, my students are forced to seek other sources of information and only contact me when I am the best source for answering their questions.
3. Do Not Use Email as a To-Do List
Whether you prefer to use a paper to-do list or software program, do not use your email for this purpose. Leaving a message in your inbox because the message contains something that needs to be done is not the best approach to manage your to-do list. Not only does it clutter up your inbox, it also increases your stress every time you check your email. Email programs are not designed to help you prioritize your work. Instead, any action items you need to complete from an email should be added to your regular to-do list and prioritized appropriately in the context of other items you need to complete.
Manage Your Email, Do Not Let it Manage You
With email, you can quickly contact co-authors from around the world or answer quick questions from students. However, email also has the potential to keep you from your highest priorities and hurt your pursuit of tenure. When you sit down to prepare your tenure dossier, I promise that you will not wish you had spent more time responding to or sending emails. The tenure process is stressful enough without an overflowing inbox. It may seem like email takes up a fairly small part of the day, but it can quickly grow out of control. I strongly suggest taking steps to reduce the amount of email you send and receive. This is something that most faculty struggle with, and improving your email management can offer a distinct advantage during the tenure process.
