A World Without Email: Find Focus and Transform the Way You Work Forever (from the NYT bestselling productivity expert)

by Cal Newport

The second property cited above attempts to reduce the cognitive toll of feeling like everyone needs you at all times. All things being equal, workflows that minimize this never-ending stream of urgent communication are superior to those that instead amplify it. When you’re at home at night, or relaxing over the weekend, or on vacation, you shouldn’t feel like each moment away from work is a moment in which you’re accumulating deeper communication debt. In the age of the hyperactive hive mind, we’ve become used to this despondent state as a necessary consequence of our high-tech world, but this is nonsense. Better workflows can tame this sense of overload and, by doing so, make you not only happier but also more effective and less likely to burn out over time.