Learn more about productivity with this collection
How to avoid email overload
How to organize your inbox
How to write effective emails
The protocol principle
By spending more time setting up rules or protocols for work in advance, we can spend less effort coordinating the work at the moment.
An eg: The standard protocol meeting scheduling is "energy-minimizing email ping pong," which has a low energy cost at the moment but large cognitive costs long-term. Something like a scheduling link or open office hours can change that dramatically. Consider, customer support protocols like using team emails instead of personal ones
Also, consider email protocols like not promising to reply to every email and keeping emails short.
504
1.39K reads
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The attention capital principle
Attention capital is creating workflows that optimize the human brain's ability to add value to information. Not just to chase our own tails and send and receive more emails.
The optimal way to deploy our human brains is sequentially.
There are 2 main components to knowledge...
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1.51K reads
A terrible way to extract value from human neurons
According to data gathered by the time-tracking software RescueTime
- Half of the users check communication applications like email or Slack every six minutes or less.
- The most common average checking time was on...
529
2.97K reads
The Hyperactive Hive Mind
There is an underlying belief, in the knowledge sector, that hyper-communication equals work. We are part of a workflow centered around ongoing conversations fueled by unstructured and unscheduled messages delivered through digital communication tools like email and instant messenger services.
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3.9K reads
Email reduces productivity
Attention switching costs are huge on our brains and workflows. This means that constantly jumping from one task to another brings with it a significant cognitive load that slows down our ability to focus and get the most out of our work. Yet, r...
532
2.51K reads
Once we understand the contours of our frustrations with knowledge work, we recognize that we have the potential to make these efforts not only massively more productive but also massively more fulfilling and sustainable.
CAL NEWPORT
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1.84K reads
There's nothing fundamental about these newly increased workloads; they're instead an unintended side effect—a source of stress and anxiety that we can diminish if we're willing to step away from the frenetic back-and-forth that defines the hyperactive hive mind workflow.
CAL NEWPORT
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2.29K reads
THE SPECIALIZATION PRINCIPLE
The specialization principle says that doing fewer things with higher quality and more accountability can significantly improve productivity. Basically, applying essentialism to knowledge work.
Less intense ways to further specialize are:
- Outsourcing what you don...
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1.55K reads
The process principle
Incorporating efficient production processes into knowledge work can make an incredible difference in increasing performance and minimizes ambiguity as to what to work on at any given time. Task boards like Asana and Trello are some of the key tools when it comes to setting up processes....
525
1.35K reads
Email has a mind of its own
The rate of spread of email since the 90s has been outstanding, almost to such a point that the hyperactive hive mind workflow has chosen us.
3 main drivers for this
- “The hidden costs of asynchrony”: synchrony might be “expensive” to set up, but constant asynchrony is mu...
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1.61K reads
Always keeping emails short is a simple rule, but the effects can be profound. Once you no longer think of email as a general-purpose tool for talking about anything at any time, its stranglehold on your attention will diminish.
CAL NEWPORT
550
7.24K reads
Email makes us miserable
For those individuals who score high in neuroticism (a personality trait that is correlated with high levels of anxiety and negative emotions), the mere thought of batching email replies or using a more mindful approach t...
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1.99K reads
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