PDA Users Suffer from Email Overload

I love my Palm Treo, but do I think it makes me more productive? No. Isn't it SUPPOSED to make me more productive? Yes!

Well, a study put on by my beloved International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) found that 85% of the 1,700 business communication professionals interviewed had productivity issues thanks to email.

Sixty-two percent of respondents to the IABC survey said they receivetoo much e-mail, compared to 75 percent of PDA users. In addition, almosthalf of the respondents (44 percent) agreed that they send too much e-mail. In comparison, 56 percent of PDA users are guilty of sending too much e-mail.

I'm not sure that my Treo's email capability is what hurts my productivity...it's just always being available (as with any cell phone), and having it loaded with games that are too fun to pass up when I have some time to kill (ok, time that I COULD spend doing something more productive).

Oh well...productivity is highly overrated.

What Abe Lincoln can teach us about email

Telecom expert Tom Wheeler says that Abraham Lincoln, the first U.S. president with access to the telegraph, developed a personal code of electronic communications that modern-day netizens would do well to adopt in their email habits.

Wheeler describes Lincoln's "T-mail" etiquette and the lessons we can learn from it, like:
Less is More - Whereas many saw the blank telegraph form as an invitation to an essay, Lincoln's telegrams were short and to the point. "Your long despatch of yesterday just received," Lincoln chided General George McClellan about a 10-page telegram sent in May 1863. Then the president required only three additional sentences to reply to the general's endless essay.

Responding to a long-winded message with only a few words is indeed a great way to train others how to use email.

Read about it here:

What Abraham Lincoln Taught Me about Email