As I was digging out after a week away, I found an interesting post from David Pogue in response to a reader who asked him how "public figures" like Pogue and Mark Cuban handle responses to emails, as this individual was soon to be a public figure. Pogue quickly noted that it has nothing to do with Mark Cuban or himself, in particular, but he was happy to answer the questions posed by the reader, as follows:
A) How many wackos do you hear from in a day?
B) How do you handle said wackos?
C) Do you use elaborate file/folder systems?
D) How much of your day is spent on replying to e-mails?
E) How do you determine who gets a reply?
F) How often do you check e-mail?
G) What advice would you give to a public figure about what to watch out for if you publish your e-mail address?"
Pogue's answers aren't startling, but they are interesting. It sounds like he really does try to respond to and keep up with a huge volume of email where he can and, like most of us, he wishes there was a better way to manage the constant influx of mail more efficiently. Clearly he does triage on his mail, which is certainly a method I employ, especially if I'm out of the office on business or personal time, to check for anything from a client that requires response immediately or something from a colleague that needs a response or at least to be passed on to someone else who can help until I return. I found it humorous that after reading a book with tips on "Getting More Done," Pogue tried to follow the tenet of clearing out his inbox at the end of every day. He ultimately gave up, as the approach revolved around responding to what you need to respond to and either filing in folders or deleting the rest. He felt this just reshuffled the deck (my words, not his) and really didn't reduce the glut of mail. I know our systems team who constantly remind people to delete or archive, couldn't agree more. I remember in the early days of our agency one of our young managers followed the approach Pogue's book advised and refused to leave her desk until she had categorized (filed) all of her mail for that day in folders. She worked ridiculously long days (self-imposed) and ended up burning out and shifting into a freelance career. I do hope she ultimately arrived upon a less punishing approach to finishing her day.
As Pogue noted, for a columnist like himself who gets tons of emails, it's ideal to have an assistant who can help manage the mail, and to outline on your website your guidelines regarding emails -- frequently asked questions and answers; your policy on responding to mail, etc. I always found Walt Mossberg's meticulous outlining of his guidelines a great help to anyone needing to communicate effectively with the popular WSJ columnist.
So Pogue's column is interesting, particularly in that it shows all of us that managing email has come nowhere near being solved. I have been working on it for years. I already have my email filtered into two mailboxes. The primary one is for anything addressed specifically to me or from a set group of senders. The second includes group emails and newsletters, etc. I'm personally still waiting for 95% of email to disappear at the end of a set period of time unless the person chooses to retain it. I know you can set those kinds of Mission Impossible disappearing-email features, but you still have to create the setting when you send the email. I'd prefer it to be the default setting. For example, part of what I am painstakingly going through right now is emails sent to teams that include replies one-by-one from each team member. If you are working remotely and don't have a lightning-fast connection, blowing these away can take more time than it should. And I'm fortunate enough to have a great assistant who already placed a lot of iffy emails into a folder for me to review when I have time.
Pogue's column also raises the question, in my mind, of who exactly is a public figure. Many of our clients right now are starting corporate blogs written by the company's technology or business leaders. Although I think of public figures as politicians and actors -- people whose lives are an open book to the world -- it can also mean that anyone who puts their thoughts or beliefs about any subject in the public domain, by default, is now a public figure. So Pogue raises a good point regarding being clear about what they will respond to -- either via their policy on comments to blog posts or emails/calls that could result from anything they publish in a blog.
I'm glad the disappearing-email feature didn't dissolve Mr. Pogue's email from my mailbox before I got to think about all of this and share it with you. And I'd love to hear from anyone who has come up with new ways to manage emails.
