tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post8107260721677560345..comments2024-03-28T17:13:01.117+10:00Comments on Condensed concepts: Not all email is created equalRoss H. McKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09950455939572097456noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-26980940769568965382018-04-18T20:24:40.433+10:002018-04-18T20:24:40.433+10:00I introduced Slack to the previous group I was a P...I introduced Slack to the previous group I was a PDRA in, and have used it fairly continuously for 4 years.<br />Positives: Many fewer emails. Immediate response to minor issues. Less 'friction' to communicating (due to it being less formal than writing an email with a salutation, structured paragraphs etc.). Natural segregation of importance (i.e. lunch requests / suggestions go in #lunch!). <br />Negatives: Perpetuates the 'always on' culture in academia. Low friction to communicate means quite a lot of shallow questions asked. Quite a lot of 'fear of missing out'. Very difficult to catch up on any discussion (you end up with ~200 one-line messages in a channel), if you do try to use it asynchronously. Closed source. <br /><br />Recently I've become very interested in Zulip Chat. It's a similar idea to Slack, but combined with better threading. This makes it more like a discussion forum / gmail thread, while also allowing instant 'chat' like interaction when working together on last-minute edits to a paper etc. I think this is a very good fit to academia, and allows for proper async use + updating weeks/months/years old discussions (i.e. projects). It's certainly what I'd chose to use if and when I'm a PI!<br />http://blog.zulip.org/2018/04/18/zulip-1-8-released/<br />Jarvisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04899572225072861017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-43500975491300936712018-03-22T17:03:52.792+10:002018-03-22T17:03:52.792+10:00Prof Scholl and Jarvist make good comments. I per...Prof Scholl and Jarvist make good comments. I personally try and avoid looking at email on my phone for exactly these reasons.<br /><br />I would like to see email for important things. The "what time should we have lunch" is be best left to a messaging system.<br /><br />I have started using Slack with some colleagues recently. It is basically a messaging system on steroids that works for groups and discussions. I am hopeful that it will help with my email troubles.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09803564242456571807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-40229084485798407632018-03-20T03:44:42.150+10:002018-03-20T03:44:42.150+10:00It was very notable that you could tell who had go...It was very notable that you could tell who had got a smart-phone, when they suddenly stopped replying to emails properly!<br /><br />For myself, on my smartphone I read 'informative' emails (seminar announcements + etc.), then archive them. This I think is a good use for a few minutes waiting for a lift etc. For emails that require responses, I ensure I set them as 'unread' on my smartphone, and reply on a real computer. Similar to Prof Sholl's time management suggestion, I try to avoid reading 'serious' emails at all on my device, so I can read, think & reply in one sitting.Jarvisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04899572225072861017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-48552592424855156742018-03-19T21:13:01.016+10:002018-03-19T21:13:01.016+10:00An basic time management rule from the days when m...An basic time management rule from the days when many things came in paper form was "only touch a piece of paper once". The same idea should be applied to email. Having a system that allows you to promptly and accurately respond to requests such as "which days in the week of April 3 are you in town" helps everyone. Flipping through email on a phone does not seem conducive to this.Prof. Shollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01478272124748674635noreply@blogger.com