Managing Your Email

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Managing Your Email

• Kim Solez, M.D.

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How much has changed?
2000- Rogers Pittsburgh-Post Gazette
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Every Audience Now Diverse!

• The Internet is now mainstream, so most of you
  have already solved most of the Internet related
  problems in your professional life. You know the
  basics of creating, using and managing Internet
  resources.
• Nevertheless there are still many advances which
  you are not aware of. And managing Email may
  still be a problem in your life.

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A Spectrum!

• I receive 400 messages a day on my UAlberta.CA
  account, 200 spam, 25 legitimate messages that
  need to be read (divided among 3 computers) 175
  legitimate messages that do not need to be read
  (list messages where subjects are not of
  interest, administrative messages from the
  discussion groups we run etc.)
• My parents in their 80s have never received any
  spam, receive about 4 messages per month on their
  account, and send one.

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Your situation!

• Lies somewhere between these extremes of 400 a
  day and 4 a month!

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The Amazing Power of the Weekend!
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Superbowl Effect (1998)
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Recommendation

• Managing Your E-Mail Thinking Outside the Inbox
• by Christina Cavanagh John Wiley Sons 2003
• Recommends 25 Email messages a day as the ideal
  for the workplace.

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What to Do About It?

• Depends entirely on your environment. In many
  work environments is mostly managed for you.
  Spam filtering at server level etc.
• Spam filters, subject filtering, and organizing
  your mail into folders etc. are the subject of
  another presentation

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Other Considerations - Are You Sending Too Much
Email? Toxic Worry

• Dr. Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist and lecturer
  at Harvard Medical School, who studied
  communication dysfunction in the workplace,
  coined the phrase toxic worry to describe the
  subtle sense of disconnection we feel when e-mail
  replaces communication that requires valuable
  human contact.

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Tone of Email

• Generally, e-mails should be matter-of-fact
  exchanges of informationthey should be
  personable, not personal. I often think of John
  F. Kennedys words civility is not a weakness,
  and sincerity is subject to proof, when trying
  to convey to people the importance of tone in
  their e-mail messages. The words we choose to use
  in any given situation can stingmultiply this
  tenfold when these words appear nakedly on our
  monitors.

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How Often Should You Check Your Email?

• Zen slap An email auto-check set for every
  minute means 60 potential distractions every
  hour, or almost 500 per day. Look back at a week
  of your emails and ask yourself how many
  distractions was that really worth? How much
  crucial, instantly actionable email did I receive
  to make it worth shifting my attention over 2000
  times?

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ISN Informatics -Human Centered Computing

• Fostering nephrologys embrace of the Internet
  and new technology since 1994 with Email and web
  resources. ISN homepage, websites which allow
  virtual attendance at meetings.
• www.cybernephrology.org
• www.cyber-medicine.org

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Technology Evolution Need Not be Complex!

• Machines should serve human beings, making our
  lives easier.
• The latest technology in cell phones, the windup
  charger.

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Technology Evolution Need Not be Complex!

• Machines should serve human beings, making our
  lives easier.
• Virtual full size keyboards for cell phones and
  PDAs which project on any surface.
• Managing your email can b e simple like this.

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ISN Informatics provides

• Professional and patient education and peer
  support over the Internet using Email and web
  resources, medical textbooks online, hands on
  workshops, symposia, videoconferencing, and
  technology vision for the future.
• It is the embodiment of kidney medicines embrace
  of technology.
• A wealth of offerings for physicians, other
  nephrology professionals, and patients and
  families at
• www.cybernephrology.org

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But putting matters more simply

• The use of computers and the Internet should be
  enjoyable, practical, and productive. Web,
  email, chat resources should be easy to create.
• If you need help we are there to provide
  assistance. You can send us questions at the
  contact us link on www.cybernephrology.org or
  at the following Email addresses
• Janice McDonald jm5_at_ualberta.ca
• Michele Hales Michele.Hales_at_UAlberta.CA
• Kim Solez, M.D. Kim.Solez_at_UAlberta.CA
• We can help you create Internet resources
  specific to the local language and culture of
  your own region.

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Unique Resources for Patients Not Found In other
Specialties

• NEPHKIDS - For parents of children with renal
  disease, moderated by pediatric nephrologist.
• KIDNEYDISEASE - For adult patients with kidney
  disease, moderated by 10 nephrologists all over
  the world!
• 18 Email discussion groups in all connecting more
  than 3000 health professionals and patients.

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Email Discussion Groups
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Email - Best Communication for Low Bandwidth
Situations
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Wireless Connectivity - Available Even Where No
Good Land Lines Exist!
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Wireless Connectivity - Not Just for Landlubbers
Anymore!
BALTIC SEA  MAKING WAVES Now travelers in the
Scandinavian region (which has long been in the
forefront of wireless technology) can get wi-fi
while crossing the Baltic Sea. Passengers on
Silja ferries running between Helsinki, Stockholm
and Tallinn, Estonia, log on for free while
seated near the bar.
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Wireless Connectivity - Many applications within
hospital practice
BOSTON  DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS Physicians at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston
use wireless handhelds and laptops to submit
prescriptions, r ead laboratory results and view
X rays and ultrasounds. Above, an emergency -room
doctor checks a PDA equipped with a plug-in wi-fi
card .
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Wireless Connectivity - An important focus of
national connectivity initiatives.
KRAKOW  HIP TO BE SQUARE For decades, visitors to
Krakow's main city square have admired the
historic buildings, browsed the souvenir stands
and sipped coffee at the many outdoor cafés. This
year, for the first time, they get to browse
online for free-thanks to a nationwide effort to
bring wi-fi to Poland .
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But putting matters more simply

• The use of computers and the Internet should be
  enjoyable, practical, and productive. Web,
  email, chat resources should be easy to create.
• If you need help we are there to provide
  assistance. You can send us questions at the
  contact us link on www.cybernephrology.org or
  at the following Email addresses
• Janice McDonald jm5_at_ualberta.ca
• Michele Hales Michele.Hales_at_UAlberta.CA
• Kim Solez, M.D. Kim.Solez_at_UAlberta.CA
• We can help you create Internet and use
  resources specific to local needs, language and
  culture of your own region.