Comments on: Weaning Yourself from the Email Beast http://www.taoofprosperity.com/2007/weaning-yourself-from-the-email-beast/ Helping self-employed people earn more, work less, and live a life of play * Learn practical strategies to build passive income * Shift your thinking gain confidence in your business saavy * Drop the struggle and enter play consciousness * Embrace what you passionately enjoy (while keeping your feet on the ground) and create a life that is aligned with your deepest sense of joy and aliveness. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:16:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Emma http://www.taoofprosperity.com/2007/weaning-yourself-from-the-email-beast/#comment-8 Emma Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:41:23 +0000 http://www.taoofprosperity.com/2007/weaning-yourself-from-the-email-beast/#comment-8 Oh, I so know what you mean, I haven't been untethered from the computer for more than 24 hours in years. It's disturbing really. I'm sure it affects me on all kinds of subtle levels. One of my goals for 2008 is to go on 4 trips that are at least 5 days where I leave my computer at home. I am going to be seriously working on automation and elimination from now till the end of the year! I fell of the wagon of my "no morning email" experiment pretty quickly, and so I realized a whole passel more mindfulness is going to be required to change my habits. I kind of live in my inbox. It's my todo list. And I check it like it's a dying patient or something. I so don't need to, but I'm clearly very keyed into it. So I'm in the process of becoming more aware of what my relationship to email is currently, envisioning what I want it to be, and then figuring out how to get there. I'm surprised at how *unconscious* it has become. That's the real sticky part. I think I need to read Tim's "elimination" chapter about 5 more times. =) Oh, I so know what you mean, I haven’t been untethered from the computer for more than 24 hours in years. It’s disturbing really. I’m sure it affects me on all kinds of subtle levels.

One of my goals for 2008 is to go on 4 trips that are at least 5 days where I leave my computer at home. I am going to be seriously working on automation and elimination from now till the end of the year!

I fell of the wagon of my “no morning email” experiment pretty quickly, and so I realized a whole passel more mindfulness is going to be required to change my habits. I kind of live in my inbox. It’s my todo list. And I check it like it’s a dying patient or something. I so don’t need to, but I’m clearly very keyed into it.

So I’m in the process of becoming more aware of what my relationship to email is currently, envisioning what I want it to be, and then figuring out how to get there. I’m surprised at how *unconscious* it has become. That’s the real sticky part.

I think I need to read Tim’s “elimination” chapter about 5 more times. =)

]]> By: Sarah http://www.taoofprosperity.com/2007/weaning-yourself-from-the-email-beast/#comment-7 Sarah Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:59:42 +0000 http://www.taoofprosperity.com/2007/weaning-yourself-from-the-email-beast/#comment-7 Oh, and my current email experiment: I set my Thunderbird to check my personal account every hour instead of every ten minutes. And I'm already finding myself manually hitting the "get mail" button. ::sigh:: The worst, though, is sleeping with my treo next to my bed and checking my email when i wake up in the middle of the night. Now THAT has to stop! Oh, and my current email experiment: I set my Thunderbird to check my personal account every hour instead of every ten minutes. And I’m already finding myself manually hitting the “get mail” button. ::sigh::

The worst, though, is sleeping with my treo next to my bed and checking my email when i wake up in the middle of the night. Now THAT has to stop!

]]> By: Sarah http://www.taoofprosperity.com/2007/weaning-yourself-from-the-email-beast/#comment-6 Sarah Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:56:52 +0000 http://www.taoofprosperity.com/2007/weaning-yourself-from-the-email-beast/#comment-6 Emma, I saw this post last Thursday and it was absolutely perfectly timed. I was running around trying to tie up loose ends before I took off for a five-day camping trip, and had been toying with the idea of picking up a new book for the weekend. I barely finished reading your post before I grabbed my wallet and left the office to go to Barnes and Noble and get the Four Hour Workweek. An hour later, my coworker suggested that I leave my Treo behind for the camping trip. It all folded together weirdly perfectly, directing me to the first five days I have ever spent without email access in ELEVEN YEARS. And it was amazing. I can't even describe the surreal sense of freedom (and confusion) I experienced. The book is inspiring and a fun read, but I have the same gripe you do -- his formula is about minimizing work because passion/fulfillment is unsustainable, and I think that's silly. There is absolutely a balance to be had there. Thank you for writing about it. Oh, and I hate the cover. I had to pull off the dust jacket in order to be able to read it on front of other people. Silly me. Emma, I saw this post last Thursday and it was absolutely perfectly timed. I was running around trying to tie up loose ends before I took off for a five-day camping trip, and had been toying with the idea of picking up a new book for the weekend. I barely finished reading your post before I grabbed my wallet and left the office to go to Barnes and Noble and get the Four Hour Workweek.

An hour later, my coworker suggested that I leave my Treo behind for the camping trip.

It all folded together weirdly perfectly, directing me to the first five days I have ever spent without email access in ELEVEN YEARS.

And it was amazing. I can’t even describe the surreal sense of freedom (and confusion) I experienced.

The book is inspiring and a fun read, but I have the same gripe you do — his formula is about minimizing work because passion/fulfillment is unsustainable, and I think that’s silly. There is absolutely a balance to be had there.

Thank you for writing about it.

Oh, and I hate the cover. I had to pull off the dust jacket in order to be able to read it on front of other people. Silly me.

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