Fight back against email overload

Inbox overflowing? Help is at hand. The growing popularity of the Email Charter may counter the email epidemic.
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Jane McAdam Freud, Sisyphus Sculpture, Image via Jane McAdam Freud

Three years ago TED curator Chris Howlett realised he had a problem. He and just about everybody else in the Western World. Responding to emails was taking up an increasing proportion of his time and the maddening spiral showed no sign of abating.

Anderson identified that, although it is quicker to read than to write, the demand to respond meant incoming email was creating a ‘tragedy of the commons’, a situation where everyone acting in their own interest depletes a common resource.

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Deborah Stone
About the Author
Deborah Stone is a Melbourne journalist and communications professional. She is a former Editor of ArtsHub and a former Fairfax feature writer.