Work Smarter with Social Media

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Rule Your Email

This chapter is for people who get too much email, which is a bit like saying, “This chapter is for people who have email.” All too often, email feels like more of a hindrance to productivity than an effective communication tool. It’s hard to think of a technology that is so widely used and yet also so widely resented. As a Vision Critical study found, more than 75 percent of workplace email users think of email as “hostile,” “boring,” and a “waste of time,” while less than 25 percent see it as “friendly,” “interesting,” “manageable,” “necessary,” “valuable,” “important,” or “useful.”

But email can be a useful, valuable, and manageable part of your work life—once you set up your email system to allow you to focus your attention ...