Choose Email for Remote Productivity

As many of us do our work remotely, email keeps us connected, happy, and productive.

For years, productivity discussions have talked about focus, distractions, getting into the flow, etc., etc. With the coronavirus pandemic, uninterrupted time is even more precious. Many of us are forced to balance our work with home, health, school, and hobbies in one shared space. Our productivity and focus is suffering.

All along, there’s been something that we use every day, which can help. It’s email!

Email encourages high-quality communication

Through all the interruptions and turmoil in your life, email is a constant. Everyone has email, and every email system can email every other. It lets us stay connected, but doesn’t demand an immediate response. You can read it in your own time, and have the space to craft a thoughtful reply.

As we scramble to adjust to this new way of working, we’re discovering that video conferences are exhausting. Without in-person communication, the incessant instant messaging chatter encourages shallow work, which leaves us feeling unproductive.

Everything has to be RIGHT NOW!

In the office, you can see if someone looks busy with something else and not bother them—or interrupt if it’s urgent. Without that awareness, everything feels equally urgent.

Slow down, you move too fast

Things move slowly in the email world, as anyone following the progress of JMAP from initial announcement (2014) to eventual standardization (2019) knows! This is a good thing.

People enjoy the continuity of email continuing to work exactly the same way, day after day. Email is stable and dependable, and you can just get your job done. In this rapidly shifting world, stability is even more valuable.

Gotta make the morning last

The advantage of email is precisely that it’s not immediate. It’s ok to deal with your emails on your own time, and you don’t have to process them in order of delivery. Every email has its own unread status, so it’s easy to pick out immediate messages to deal with, and come back to the others later.

The world has over 50 years of experience with email. Email workflow can adapt to your needs, with powerful concepts like filtering, folders, and flagging or pinning.

Fastmail knows email

Fastmail is one the longest-running, and continually growing, email companies in the world. We’ve been working with email since 1995, and we understand the importance of permanence and of email being your electronic memory. Our fast and powerful search helps you quickly recall those important memories.

We also understand the importance of working without interruption and keeping organized, with snooze and VIP contacts giving you control over when you’re interrupted by new email.

We’re continuing to make it easier for you to be in control of your email, with more powerful filters launched recently, and labels in beta now!

Respect your own time

If you’re not using any of our filtering or productivity tools yet, don’t stress about it, but do set aside time to experiment. Set up a workflow that makes your email work for you.  

Your time is valuable. We’re here building the system lets you get in, deal with your email on your own schedule, and get on with the rest of your life. Many sites want you to spend more time on them. We want you to deal with email quickly and have more time for other priorities.

Stop your attention being stolen one notification at a time. Take advantage of email to remain well informed without being overwhelmed.

Listen to Bron talk more about this topic on the Nomad Futurist podcast.