<story><title>Why Donald Knuth Checks E-mail Only Once Every Three Months</title><url>http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/07/17/bonus-post-how-the-worlds-most-famous-computer-scientist-checks-e-mail-only-once-every-three-months/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>lionhearted</author><text>Am I the only person that likes email and enjoys using my inbox? I get only two things there - correspondences that are mostly interesting, and reports that I specifically want.&lt;p&gt;It can be a drag when a &lt;i&gt;bunch&lt;/i&gt; of correspondences come in at the same time, but I try to gently discourage people from sending me useless junk, so I&apos;m mostly free of sifting through useless junk. Gmail/Google Apps is good enough about spam, and you can use a second email address if you need one to sign up for things like frequent flyer accounts that send spammy-ish reports.&lt;p&gt;Seriously, if you don&apos;t like your inbox, try registering a new Gmail or Google Apps account and give it out selectively to people who don&apos;t send stupid stuff, and use your old email for stuff that&apos;s overwhelming. This holds up pretty well even into the 20-40 replies per day required range, which is more than most people are going to get. The key is making sure junk doesn&apos;t get mixed in with your real email - when pretty much everything is something you&apos;d enjoy or want to see, the inbox is not this evil cursed thing.</text></comment>
<story><title>Why Donald Knuth Checks E-mail Only Once Every Three Months</title><url>http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/07/17/bonus-post-how-the-worlds-most-famous-computer-scientist-checks-e-mail-only-once-every-three-months/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>hugh3</author><text>I&apos;m sure this works great, if you have:&lt;p&gt;a) A diligent secretary who stays on top of things for you, and&lt;p&gt;b) Tenure&lt;p&gt;Even (b) might not be enough if you&apos;re just a regular tenured professor rather than Donald Fricking Knuth.</text></comment>