For those who have a job that makes following these guidelines impossible: don't follow these guidelines!
This article is directed at those with the flexibility to set their own communication schedules (self-employed, freelancers, entrepreneurs et al).
And for those with the power inside their company to set email policy: Don't make fast email response mandatory! It's a productivity killer...give your employees uninterrupted time and they'll accomplish exponentially more.
If someone truly needs a reply in a short period of time, they should call. And if you want to send IMs, get an IM client.
Perhaps then employees would be able to get out of the inbox and get some work done.
P.S. The author of this article, Leo Babauta, is a full-time author and blogger with a top 100 blog (did you read the byline?). He's not unemployed nor is he crazy.
This article is directed at those with the flexibility to set their own communication schedules (self-employed, freelancers, entrepreneurs et al).
And for those with the power inside their company to set email policy: Don't make fast email response mandatory! It's a productivity killer...give your employees uninterrupted time and they'll accomplish exponentially more.
If someone truly needs a reply in a short period of time, they should call. And if you want to send IMs, get an IM client.
Perhaps then employees would be able to get out of the inbox and get some work done.
P.S. The author of this article, Leo Babauta, is a full-time author and blogger with a top 100 blog (did you read the byline?). He's not unemployed nor is he crazy.