Email Bankruptcy

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Irregular News for 05.02.07

 

The Cyberweb -- Despite the proliferation of email management gizmos such as the BlackBerry, some users are finding their growing inboxes so insurmountable they have been forced to declare bankruptcy.

 

"I am so far behind on email that I am declaring bankruptcy," New York-based venture capitalist Fred Wilson wrote in his blog last week.

 

"If you've sent me an email (and you aren't my wife, partner, or colleague), you might want to send it again. I am starting over."

 

Jeff Nolan, CEO of technology startup Teqlo, followed suit the next day.

 

"From here on out I am going back to voice communication as my primary mechanism for interacting with people," he said.

 

The term "email bankruptcy" was coined by Stanford Law School professor Lawrence Lessig in 2004, when he was inundated with an average of 200 non-spam emails a day and had spent 80 hours in a week sorting through unanswered email.

 

Lessig is a vocal anti-spam crusader, but ironically his email problems were caused by personal messages.

 

"Dear person who sent me a yet-unanswered e-mail, I apologize, but I am declaring e-mail bankruptcy", Lessig informed his contacts via email, parts of which were published by Wired magazine.

 

He apologised profusely and said that, by not responding, he lacked "cyber decency".

 

But some say declaring email bankruptcy is an extreme measure that should be taken only as a last resort.

 

The website Web Worker Daily advised its readers to use an email auto-responder that replies to each message with: "Due to a technical issue, there is a possibility I may never see your email. If it is important, please call me at xxx xxx-xxxx. Sorry for any inconvenience."

 

This is also a method advocated by Timothy Ferris, author of the mobile lifestyle manifesto, The 4-Hour Workweek.

 

Others say it is just a matter of being more organised and learning to use the technology more effectively.

 

The Australian firm Adapt Training Solutions provides one-on-one coaching sessions for time-poor executives, training them to apply time management principles to their digital lives.

 

"While many people use Outlook or Lotus Notes, most only know how to use 10% of what it can do," the company's website says.

 

Pricing varies, but $2500 nets you several 90-minute coaching sessions, spread out over three to four months.

 

One-day workshops are also offered and one of the results the company promises is "an empty inbox every day".

 

Harvey Norman chief operating officer John Slack-Smith told The Sydney Morning Herald this month that, by using Adapt's methods, he had regained one hour a day.

 

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