A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload
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- Create Date：2021-04-07 11:52:37
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- Author：Cal Newport
- ISBN：0525536558
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Summary
New York Times bestseller！
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。
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。
Reviews
Szymon
，
Cal Newport brings together many interesting observations regarding the hectic atmosphere of a modern knowledge workplace and provides a set of solutions。 These are quite generic yet I think they may be at least partially applicable in my specific work setting。
Clemens Adolphs
，
Not a full summary， just a few notes。The book has two parts: Part 1 talks about how our use of email and instant messaging has turned our workplace experience into a living hell， where tasks are thrown about in an unstructured， unscheduled， ad hoc fashion and work gets accomplished via the hyperactive hive mind。 Cal Newport explains both how we got there and why this is bad。 For a teaser on some of these ideas， you can check out his article "Email is making us miserable" in the New Yorker。Part 2 Not a full summary， just a few notes。The book has two parts: Part 1 talks about how our use of email and instant messaging has turned our workplace experience into a living hell， where tasks are thrown about in an unstructured， unscheduled， ad hoc fashion and work gets accomplished via the hyperactive hive mind。 Cal Newport explains both how we got there and why this is bad。 For a teaser on some of these ideas， you can check out his article "Email is making us miserable" in the New Yorker。Part 2 then explains what better alternatives there are for the hyperactive hive mind。 This comes in case studies and some general principles， because for each company， each sector， each type of work， you would need to come up with your own way。 The main gist here is: Put processes and protocols in place， and supercharge the support staff。There are some great ideas in there that I'd love to try out at my own place of work， such as the clever use of task boards to see at a glance what needs to be done and who's one it， or extending the idea of "office hours" so that subject matter experts don't have to fragment their precious time to deal with "quick" requests。 。。。more
Henry Suryawirawan
，
Another great book from Cal Newport！ I was intrigued by the title of the book as I have been questioning myself a lot at work related to the insurmountable amount of emails， unstructured messages and chats that seem to create lots of noises and anxiety in my daily life。 I even wondered whether this is just a new norm in the current fast-pace technology landscape， and that I would just need to find a way to adjust to the new norm。Having read the book， Cal explained in great details on why the hyp Another great book from Cal Newport！ I was intrigued by the title of the book as I have been questioning myself a lot at work related to the insurmountable amount of emails， unstructured messages and chats that seem to create lots of noises and anxiety in my daily life。 I even wondered whether this is just a new norm in the current fast-pace technology landscape， and that I would just need to find a way to adjust to the new norm。Having read the book， Cal explained in great details on why the hyperactive hive mind workflow should not be the norm and it is actually counterproductive to what we should aim for as knowledge workers。 This also relates back to his earlier book "Deep Work" （which is also another great book for knowledge worker to read about）。 In this book， Cal started by stating his arguments against these ways of working and then proposed a few principles that we should strive to implement in order to take back the control from the hyperactive distractions to a state that is more conducive for productive work。If you're feeling overwhelmed by the current ways of working that seem to create unnecessary stress in you， I highly recommend you to read this book in order to find a few practices you can implement in order to gain back your freedom and productivity！ 。。。more
Jordan Shipman
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4。5 stars。
Melanie
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I'm giving this book three stars because I like the concept and Cal Newport's continued determination to push back against the "busyness" culture。 We are kindred spirits。 However， the title is misleading。 I understand it's provocative and catchy， but what Newport is really writing about is why the "hyperactive hive mind，" as he calls it， is hurting companies and employees。 He uses email as the example throughout。 And he's not just talking about email， but email-like systems like Slack too， which I'm giving this book three stars because I like the concept and Cal Newport's continued determination to push back against the "busyness" culture。 We are kindred spirits。 However， the title is misleading。 I understand it's provocative and catchy， but what Newport is really writing about is why the "hyperactive hive mind，" as he calls it， is hurting companies and employees。 He uses email as the example throughout。 And he's not just talking about email， but email-like systems like Slack too， which he's against。 And he's not wrong: Too many employees and freelancers spend their work day responding to and writing emails， or feeling the need to be on Slack all day， doing the work that those instant communications bring up。 It's just reacting， reacting， not actually working or having the time and focus to do the real "deep work" or be innovative in your business。He outlines the problem of task switching and multitasking， but those are not new arguments。 And he's not actually arguing to get rid of email but not to use it to determine the work flow， nor to respond to it all day。 His alternative is to set up processes and project management systems， which I already see a number of companies doing， particularly in the pandemic。 As a freelancer， I have newer clients that use Microsoft Teams， Monday。com and Basecamp， largely avoiding email。 Processes are important。 Project management systems are helpful。 But it's more about changing the culture from the top down。 I found some of his suggestions helpful as a freelancer because I'm my own boss， but I had largely already bought into his concepts of using processes and project management systems and not checking email 24/7。If you're a middle management employee， you might be frustrated that you just can't quit email。 Newport acknowledges this and tries to give some mid-management solutions， but it's really a book for business owners， freelancers and CEOS， not regular employees。 The book is also very wonky in parts and drops into a sometimes dry， tedious history of computer systems—Newport is a professor of computer science， and I think his editor should have told him everyday people will find this deep dive boring。 The book could have been better organized and much shorter。 If you want to try Newport， I highly suggest his book "Deep Work， followed by "Digital Minimalism。" This book ranks third after those。 。。。more
Chris Boutté
，
Cal Newport is one of the best authors when it comes to deep work and productivity。 He always makes powerful， research-backed arguments， and each of his books have helped me in my personal and professional life。 With that being said， I think Cal Newport is way too extreme in his ideas about digital minimalism （the title of another one of his books）， but I still thoroughly enjoy reading his books because it helps me find balance。 With this new book， I feel Cal is asking too much of companies and Cal Newport is one of the best authors when it comes to deep work and productivity。 He always makes powerful， research-backed arguments， and each of his books have helped me in my personal and professional life。 With that being said， I think Cal Newport is way too extreme in his ideas about digital minimalism （the title of another one of his books）， but I still thoroughly enjoy reading his books because it helps me find balance。 With this new book， I feel Cal is asking too much of companies and people to minimize their digital messaging， and this is especially true since the pandemic with so many of us working from home。 But he makes dozens of great points about how over-communicating digitally destroys productivity。 I really hope companies check this book out and figure out a way to reduce some of the friction caused by emails and messages。 。。。more
Oliver
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Very little new here。 The author argues that email （and chat） as a synchronous and unstructured way of organizing work is inefficient and stressful， and teams and individuals should use Kanban boards， ticketing systems， time blocking for organizational tasks， and meetings （office hours， stand-ups， etc。） instead。 Is this really the best we can say in 2021？
Kristen
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4。5 stars。 A LOT of food for thought here and I loved all of his higher Ed examples。 The thing is- I buy his premise。 Email is inefficient and leads to communication overload。 This has been made so acutely obvious to me during my year working remotely。 And Newport gives some great alternatives。 But none of his suggestions will take care of what I see as the main problem- “hyperactive hive mind。” So， soon enough， Slack/trello （etc） will go by way of email。 However， I do plan to enact some of the 4。5 stars。 A LOT of food for thought here and I loved all of his higher Ed examples。 The thing is- I buy his premise。 Email is inefficient and leads to communication overload。 This has been made so acutely obvious to me during my year working remotely。 And Newport gives some great alternatives。 But none of his suggestions will take care of what I see as the main problem- “hyperactive hive mind。” So， soon enough， Slack/trello （etc） will go by way of email。 However， I do plan to enact some of the ideas in this book。 。。。more
Sarah Page
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Classic Cal Newport - interesting and practical
Peter Joosten
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Listened to the audioversion。 Must say I liked Deep Work better than this book。 It is more focussed on organizations and less on solo entrepreneurs such as myself。
Brian
，
Cal Newport is great。 If you’re familiar with his other work， this all fits in that。 If not， you may not be convinced。
Pete
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A World Without Email （2021） by Cal Newport is another book from Newport about doing the most valuable work we can at work。 Newport is an MIT graduate and associate professor at Georgetown in Computer Science。In the book Newport describes how many knowledge workers now exist in a storm of meetings and email and are constantly being interrupted by email in particular。 He calls this the ‘hyperactive hive mind’ and says that when in this state people don’t have time to really focus on what is impor A World Without Email （2021） by Cal Newport is another book from Newport about doing the most valuable work we can at work。 Newport is an MIT graduate and associate professor at Georgetown in Computer Science。In the book Newport describes how many knowledge workers now exist in a storm of meetings and email and are constantly being interrupted by email in particular。 He calls this the ‘hyperactive hive mind’ and says that when in this state people don’t have time to really focus on what is important and are instead constantly distracted。 It’s a very good point。 Senior people I know have inboxes that are exploding with email and it becomes a fearsome task to stay on top of this。Newport makes the point that in the twentieth century the factory was revolutionised， not by making every worker do lots of different things at once but instead by standardisation and make manufacturing the repeated execution of one task by an employee。 He makes the point that knowledge workers instead have had little work done on organising their work so that they are more productive。 Instead， knowledge workers are given lots of freedom but are then bombarded with emails distracting them all the time。Newport looks at how Kanban， Scrum， Agile and XP are good responses to this that break things down into small tasks that can be done with concentration and that do not require a constant stream of email coming in。 Indeed Newport says that the tasks can have their communication needs done by putting comments in them and by regular short stand up meetings are held。A World Without Email makes a lot of good points and is well worth a read for anyone interested in increasing productivity at work。 。。。more
Ariadne
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The concept of the hyperactive hive mind workflow makes sense。 It gave me some awareness of this workflow and I can probably adopt one or two minor strategies to deal with it。 I don't think any of the major strategies， like office hours or having shared boards at work would work for me， it would require an upper management radical shift at my workplace。 Also， it has become clear to me the importance of having clear defined workflows。 Cal Newport defines that knowledge work is the combination of The concept of the hyperactive hive mind workflow makes sense。 It gave me some awareness of this workflow and I can probably adopt one or two minor strategies to deal with it。 I don't think any of the major strategies， like office hours or having shared boards at work would work for me， it would require an upper management radical shift at my workplace。 Also， it has become clear to me the importance of having clear defined workflows。 Cal Newport defines that knowledge work is the combination of two components: work execution and workflow。 So workflows that require us to be constantly checking a feed or inbox is inefficient and make us miserable。 A better way of working is to have less ad hoc， unscheduled， asynchronous conversations。In summary， the book brings suggestions on how to use email very strategically if not at all。It's an interesting discussion。 I loved the first part of the book about the history of email。 。。。more
Sam
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This book does a great job of diagnosing and articulating the problems with how we all use email for work these days。 Overall， it's a really interesting book full of solid， valuable ideas。 Compared to Deep Work it's a more practical book， but there were a few points where I felt it didn't explore ideas thoroughly enough。 The language was indigestible in places， too， hence 4 stars。 This book does a great job of diagnosing and articulating the problems with how we all use email for work these days。 Overall， it's a really interesting book full of solid， valuable ideas。 Compared to Deep Work it's a more practical book， but there were a few points where I felt it didn't explore ideas thoroughly enough。 The language was indigestible in places， too， hence 4 stars。 。。。more
Heath Salzman
，
Newport’s gift is his ability to look at something we take for granted and ask if we have to do it the way we have always done it。 This is what I appreciated about “Digital Minimalism” and “Deep Work” and it is what led me to this volume。 “A World Without Email” is mostly relevant to the knowledge work industry， but is still applicable to anyone who uses email。 Perhaps the biggest takeaway to consider is to question， in any given situation， if email is the best tool or process for that task？ We Newport’s gift is his ability to look at something we take for granted and ask if we have to do it the way we have always done it。 This is what I appreciated about “Digital Minimalism” and “Deep Work” and it is what led me to this volume。 “A World Without Email” is mostly relevant to the knowledge work industry， but is still applicable to anyone who uses email。 Perhaps the biggest takeaway to consider is to question， in any given situation， if email is the best tool or process for that task？ We use email for everything， but its value is not ubiquitous but specific。 I appreciated how much Newport drew on Neil Postman’s thought。 We have to understand the tool in order to understand how best to use it。 Email is abused because we are using it for things that it is not built for。 I’m not sure what specific applications I can make， yet， but the wheels are turning！ 。。。more
Pat
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Five stars for taking what I know about industrial production control and applying it to knowledge work: "Email isn’t additive; it’s ecological。"I dig Cal Newport and firmly believe he's onto something。 We've been optimizing manufacturing processes since the 1980s and just now beginning to see how they apply to intellectual processes。 I see every weekday at work just how inefficient the "hyperactive hive mind" can be and how when used intentionally， technology can make us feel overwhelmed。 I for Five stars for taking what I know about industrial production control and applying it to knowledge work: "Email isn’t additive; it’s ecological。"I dig Cal Newport and firmly believe he's onto something。 We've been optimizing manufacturing processes since the 1980s and just now beginning to see how they apply to intellectual processes。 I see every weekday at work just how inefficient the "hyperactive hive mind" can be and how when used intentionally， technology can make us feel overwhelmed。 I for one am going to start separating workflow from work execution。 。。。more
Dan Mantena
，
my rating - overall Score: 3。0/5。0- quality of writing （5/5）- quality of the content （5/5）- impact on my perspective （4/5）- personal resonance （1/5）- rereading potential （0/5）Cal provides a very compelling argument about the drawbacks of relying on email to assign， execute and review knowledge work。 Email is fundamentally flawed due to the way it promotes unstructured ad-hoc work that does not efficiently allocate brain capacity to the most meaningful work。 Cal calls this the hyperactive hive mi my rating - overall Score: 3。0/5。0- quality of writing （5/5）- quality of the content （5/5）- impact on my perspective （4/5）- personal resonance （1/5）- rereading potential （0/5）Cal provides a very compelling argument about the drawbacks of relying on email to assign， execute and review knowledge work。 Email is fundamentally flawed due to the way it promotes unstructured ad-hoc work that does not efficiently allocate brain capacity to the most meaningful work。 Cal calls this the hyperactive hive mind workflow。Cal argues that knowledge workers can create better work （both from a quantity and quality perspective） by identifying workflows that better optimize the human brain's ability to sustainably add value to information。His non-email solution to better workflow management include:1。 task boards （like Trello） to provide a better framework to track， review， and execute work。2。 setting up protocols on how communication takes places to increase work output3。 promoting the idea of doing fewer things but with more quality and accountability by budging your time and attention and outsourcing things you don't do well。 。。。more
Amanda
，
I agree with the premise of the book。 Too many emails end up overwhelming too many workers from doing valuable work。 But some of the remedies feel way too idealistic for my tastes。 After working at an organization that tried to implement agile workflow processes and ended up just creating more busywork/meetings， I'm not sure that his solutions are the panacea knowledge workers need。 Execution matters。。。 things like Trello boards and open hours might work for smaller organizations， but if you wor I agree with the premise of the book。 Too many emails end up overwhelming too many workers from doing valuable work。 But some of the remedies feel way too idealistic for my tastes。 After working at an organization that tried to implement agile workflow processes and ended up just creating more busywork/meetings， I'm not sure that his solutions are the panacea knowledge workers need。 Execution matters。。。 things like Trello boards and open hours might work for smaller organizations， but if you work somewhere large （1ok+） where there are tons of departments， getting buy-in to limit email usage and keep workers focused on deep work is going to be challenging。 。。。more
Kevin Marshall
，
I'm crazy busy。。。I almost didnt have time to write this review 'cuz I have to go to work on sunday。 Yeah Sunday's too。 It's a meme google it I'm crazy busy。。。I almost didnt have time to write this review 'cuz I have to go to work on sunday。 Yeah Sunday's too。 It's a meme google it 。。。more
Kevin McPherson
，
Always enjoy a Cal Newport book。
Peter O'Kelly
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Author suggested the book might have been more accurately titled "A World Without the Hyperactive Hive Mind Workflow"Some related resources to considert• Author interview:tt○ https://fortune。com/2021/03/02/author。。。t• Reviews:tt○ https://www。gq。com/story/cal-newport-。。。tt○ https://www。mrporter。com/en-us/journa。。。tt○ https://www。wsj。com/articles/a-world-。。。t• Excerpts/adaptations:tt○ https://www。newyorker。com/tech/annals。。。tt○ https://www。fastcompany。com/90610764/。。。 Author suggested the book might have been more accurately titled "A World Without the Hyperactive Hive Mind Workflow"Some related resources to considert• Author interview:tt○ https://fortune。com/2021/03/02/author。。。t• Reviews:tt○ https://www。gq。com/story/cal-newport-。。。tt○ https://www。mrporter。com/en-us/journa。。。tt○ https://www。wsj。com/articles/a-world-。。。t• Excerpts/adaptations:tt○ https://www。newyorker。com/tech/annals。。。tt○ https://www。fastcompany。com/90610764/。。。 。。。more
Jenna
，
Thought I reached peak nerd reading a book without email， but Cal Newport impresses me again with applicable principles and actionable suggestions to systematize knowledge work。 It's a highly appealing concept for those who are entrepreneurial， forward-thinking， strategizes and/or visionaries （i。e。 those who are annoyed with the constant appearance of business and would rather spend time thinking and innovating）。 Likely difficult in practice to extract oneself from a "hyperactive hive mind，" esp Thought I reached peak nerd reading a book without email， but Cal Newport impresses me again with applicable principles and actionable suggestions to systematize knowledge work。 It's a highly appealing concept for those who are entrepreneurial， forward-thinking， strategizes and/or visionaries （i。e。 those who are annoyed with the constant appearance of business and would rather spend time thinking and innovating）。 Likely difficult in practice to extract oneself from a "hyperactive hive mind，" especially at an individual contributor level， but seems worthwhile to go against the grain in that way。 。。。more
Jerry Smith
，
3。5 but not good enough to round up to 4。I'm a fan of Newport。 I like his writing style， he's a CS Professor so it's clear and to the point。 He does go a little overboard on details occasionally but that's expected when someone lives in Academia。This is a pretty good read， I'd slot it in at #3 of his 4 professional books。 All 4 are pretty gapped to me。 "Deep Work" is far and away his best work， even has a podcast dedicated to the topic。 Distant 2nd but still good is "So Good They Can't Ignore Yo 3。5 but not good enough to round up to 4。I'm a fan of Newport。 I like his writing style， he's a CS Professor so it's clear and to the point。 He does go a little overboard on details occasionally but that's expected when someone lives in Academia。This is a pretty good read， I'd slot it in at #3 of his 4 professional books。 All 4 are pretty gapped to me。 "Deep Work" is far and away his best work， even has a podcast dedicated to the topic。 Distant 2nd but still good is "So Good They Can't Ignore You" and then this book is a healthy distance from 2nd。 "Digital Minimalism" to me， is his weakest effort。 Although I may have rushed to judgment， I plan on revisiting it to see if my thoughts have changed。Anyway， this was a good read and has some techniques to lessen the impact of email in our work lives。 It fits with Deep Work topic-wise。 I don't have much of an issue w/ email or slack but it could always be better and I'll take some of the tips and apply them。 。。。more
Carolien
，
I’ve appreciated Cal Newport’s work on the intersection between technology and social transformation since I first encountered his 2016 book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World。 In his latest book， he sets out to pull together everything we know about how we ended up in a culture of constant communication and the effect of rapid task switching on both our productivity and our mental health。 I’m old enough to remember my stepfather who was a researcher coming home and telli I’ve appreciated Cal Newport’s work on the intersection between technology and social transformation since I first encountered his 2016 book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World。 In his latest book， he sets out to pull together everything we know about how we ended up in a culture of constant communication and the effect of rapid task switching on both our productivity and our mental health。 I’m old enough to remember my stepfather who was a researcher coming home and telling us excitedly about an email reply he had received from an overseas associate that same day。 He would receive ten or so emails a week。 Now we receive approximately 126 emails every day plus other messages which require instant responses。 Cal’s premise is that this is unsustainable over the long-term and that knowledge work requires better processes to ensure that we can apply our minds to our work。 In the second part， he sets out a number of options suitable for companies wishing to make systemic changes as well as individuals aiming to improve their situation。 As usual with Cal， I would be much more productive if I consistently implemented some of his recommendations and I'll definitely experiment with one idea to try and manage a monster project to start。 。。。more
Luke Koskinen
，
I found that out of the three cal Newport books I’ve read （this one， digital minimalism， and deep work）， this one is going to take the most effort to contextualize for me。 There is some great content that requires a bit more “how could this work in my setting？” than his other works。 Worth the read if you feel like you struggle to be organized in your work。
Josh Wilks
，
I love Cal Newport's writing。 I love the ideas that he puts time into fleshing out， and I love how he presents these while writing。 This is the fifth book of his that I have read and all have followed the same format: breaking up the philosophical from the practical and providing specific case studies along the way。This book tackled how work is undertaken and how it is determined who works on what， and how。 The biggest thing I got out of this book was how much good processes can add to work sati I love Cal Newport's writing。 I love the ideas that he puts time into fleshing out， and I love how he presents these while writing。 This is the fifth book of his that I have read and all have followed the same format: breaking up the philosophical from the practical and providing specific case studies along the way。This book tackled how work is undertaken and how it is determined who works on what， and how。 The biggest thing I got out of this book was how much good processes can add to work satisfaction and productivity。 I have so many ideas about how this could be implemented in my own work as a rehab professional。I thought I would get less out of this than I did because I usually send about 5 emails a day （lol） but the title is more to catch you than to really say EMAIL SUCKS。 But it probably does。 。。。more
Jacob Tjornholm
，
I was surprised to enjoy this book so much， because I actually like email a lot。 Certainly， I much prefer it to instant messaging or text messages。The thing is， the title of this book is really misleading。 It is not actually about email。 Instead， it is about a dysfunctional process （or an absence of process） in the modern workplace， and how email has helped cultivate it and continues to enable it。Cal Newport uses the term The Hyperactive Hive Mind to describe this。 What it means is that instead I was surprised to enjoy this book so much， because I actually like email a lot。 Certainly， I much prefer it to instant messaging or text messages。The thing is， the title of this book is really misleading。 It is not actually about email。 Instead， it is about a dysfunctional process （or an absence of process） in the modern workplace， and how email has helped cultivate it and continues to enable it。Cal Newport uses the term The Hyperactive Hive Mind to describe this。 What it means is that instead of careful and deliberate advance planning， more tasks now tend to be coordinated via ad-hoc messages back and forth between team members， managers and other stakeholders。Apparently this happens over email in many teams。 I feel grateful for not having experienced that myself。 As a software developer it is second nature to use a kanban board or other project management tools to plan projects and individual tasks。 I can’t even imagine working without such tools， but many do， at least in other professions。 In fact， on of the major points of the book is that we should be using things like Trello instead of just coordinating our work via email threads。To me， the choice of Email， Slack， Trello or Jira is not what’s interesting about this book。 Much more relevant to me is how we have come to accept starting a work task based on incomplete information， knowing that we can just obtain this information as we go along。It’s simply too easy to ask when unsure。 This is true for any modern communications platform， although they’re certainly not all created equal。 Project tools like Trello， Clubhouse or Twist at least keep things organised by topic。 Slack and Email invite unstructured back-and-forth with only the channel or subject line to organise the information。There’s a clear line back to the discussions we had early in my career where Scrum was really gaining traction in the software development world。 One of the key points was that nobody should start working on a task until it is Ready。 Meaning that it is actually known what needs to be done， start to finish。 As I recall， this was one of the most important rules， second only to the rule about not interrupting a team when it is in a Sprint。This fits perfectly with the message in the book。 The terminology is different， but the point remains the same: Plan ahead and make sure the task is ready。 And once you start working， don’t let yourself get interrupted。 While Scrum focused entirely on teams， Cal Newport makes the point that this principle is equally applicable for individuals。–While reading the book I often thought about how I structure my time， and how we as a team organize our work （I work in the 9-person product team at GoMore， a p2p car sharing platform）。As all other product teams， we have a huge backlog of small and big features we’d like to get done。 But as we have matured as a team， we have become increasingly aware that it is not efficient to just pick something and get started。 Tempting as it often is。It is possible for sure， and sometimes it feels easy in the beginning。 Assemble a small group （designer， frontend， backend， iOS， Android） and get started after a short kickoff meeting。 We know what we want to build， let’s just figure out the details as we go。Is that a good approach？ Let’s say I start working and get stuck with my work after half a day because I’m unsure of how to handle some edge case。 What are the costs？First， I need to disturb someone with my question， usually our CPO。 Let’s say I shoot him an email （in honor of the book…in reality I’ll probably be impatient and DM him on Slack instead）。But then what？？ I need to figure out what to do now that I’m blocked。 So I have to context switch， probably picking up a support ticket or a small task from our “pool” of minor things to work on。 If I’m lucky there is something within the same project I can pickup to stay in the same place mentally。I don’t know when I can get back to the project I should be working on， because I don’t know when I’ll get an answer from my CPO。 So I don’t know how much time I have。 Maybe I’ll have to tread waters for the rest of the day。Worst case， I didn’t phrase the question clearly enough and I get a clarifying question in return a few hours later。It is pretty obvious that this is not a great way to work， but it’s not at all uncommon。 Whenever someone is working on a problem and they shoot you a “quick question” on Slack， you should probably both pause and consider how this could have been avoided。 It’s not that I want to avoid human interaction， although it may come across that way。 But as much as I want to be a helpful team player， I’d much rather spend my time pairing on actually challenging issues or on creating product value myself， rather than answering questions that we should （as a team） have thought of earlier。So for any project， we should do our best to identify as many unknowns upfront and find answers that everyone working on the project can familiarise themselves with。 Knowledge should be spread from a single source of truth， not distributed ad-hoc。On our team， we try to achieve this by starting any new feature work with a Feature Brief， which is simply a Google doc， usually 1-3 pages long。It first describes the motivation for the feature in a few sentences。 This is just useful as background and may inspire questions and critique。Then the most important section: The lists of must have and should have changes to the product。 This describes exactly what we want to change， divided into a mandatory part that must be completed for the feature to make sense， and an optional part that we can tackle as time permits。As we think about the new feature （before working on it）， we come up with questions and fill in more detailed information on these items。 Often， this extra information is about edge cases or conflicts with existing items。For example: A “must-have” of a new feature is that the renter pays a 25% cancellation fee on late cancellation of a car rental。 But what if a 15% coupon discount was applied to the purchase？ Is the coupon still spent or do we charge the entire fee from the credit card payment？ Also， should loyalty points still be earned from the 25% of the payment we keep？ There are tons of details that we just don’t notice until we’ve spent significant time thinking about the project。Also， very importantly， the Brief contains a section for Unknowns。 So we make it explicit what we do not yet know and need to clarify before we can finish the project。 We often use comments in the document to keep track of who is working on clarifying these unknowns at any given time。Finally there’s a Notes section with non-essential background information that is just good to know for anyone working on the project。We sometimes color code text by status。 Orange for in-progress and green for done。The Feature Brief is the single most important document when working on a new feature。 It’s short enough to never be overwhelming， but at the same time it must （by definition） capture everything essential about the new feature。 The Brief links to external documents like designs and the project board containing the lower-level “stories” for each technical change we need to make in a codebase。–This turned into more than a book review。 Which goes to show why I liked the book so much。 It made me realise what we do right on our team， and why。 And perhaps what we can do even better。I highly recommend this book， even if you’re like me and secretly like email。 Again， it’s not about email， it’s about how messaging is used in a team。 And of course， since I went on a tangent and started writing about software development， I only touched on a single aspect of the book。 It contains many more valuable insights and is quite well-written。 。。。more
Eric Rath
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As an educator， there wasn’t much past the first couple of chapters I could really use。 I allowed myself the opportunity to dismiss that because I know full well that this book is geared to the standard cubicle/Dilbert/Office Space environment。 However， it irritates me that Newport is an educator， his grandfather was an educator and he didn’t dive into email in the educational space。 Even an aside comment here or there about possible alternative applications of his approach for educators would h As an educator， there wasn’t much past the first couple of chapters I could really use。 I allowed myself the opportunity to dismiss that because I know full well that this book is geared to the standard cubicle/Dilbert/Office Space environment。 However， it irritates me that Newport is an educator， his grandfather was an educator and he didn’t dive into email in the educational space。 Even an aside comment here or there about possible alternative applications of his approach for educators would have been preferable to being completely ignored。 Where I did benefit from this book （and hence a second star as opposed to just one）， is thinking more methodically about my day， when I can check email， how I can signal to others my personal email expectations and not checking work email as the same thing as actually doing work。 But let’s be honest。。。 in a school， teachers and administrators are physically separated from each other so walking down to someone else’s space may not be feasible。 Also， we are generally all scheduled as “busy” at precisely the same time。 In that environment， email is perfect。 It is， by nature， an asynchronous format where your colleagues understand that you won’t email them back right away as you are serving student first， not babysitting them so you can respond to an email that can wait for a time after school。 Thought provoking， but lacks on the follow-through。 。。。more
John Cumming
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The book starts with an easy to read analysis of how email has shaped modern working culture and inadvertently created a hyperactive hive mind where constant distraction is the norm and delivering value is becoming increasingly difficult。 A reminder that technological determinism is always worth remembering as creators of new technologies。 The ideas about how to resolve this started in the territory of agile practices familiar to many in the software world， but perhaps not so much elsewhere。 The The book starts with an easy to read analysis of how email has shaped modern working culture and inadvertently created a hyperactive hive mind where constant distraction is the norm and delivering value is becoming increasingly difficult。 A reminder that technological determinism is always worth remembering as creators of new technologies。 The ideas about how to resolve this started in the territory of agile practices familiar to many in the software world， but perhaps not so much elsewhere。 The ideas around separation of support and specialism raises some interesting thoughts。 Generally a good book and I would have liked to see a little more on ‘team’ as a real entity and how an understanding of team might provide insight， rather than the focus solely on the individual knowledge worker。 But， perhaps that is a prompt to challenge my own assumptions on the value of teams over the value of informal networks。。。。。 。。。more
Chad Ragland
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