research-article

"A pace not dictated by electrons": an empirical study of work without email

Authors:

Stephen Voida, and

Armand CardelloAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '12: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

May 2012

Pages 555 - 564

https://doi.org/10.1145/2207676.2207754

Published: 05 May 2012 Publication History

Abstract

We report on an empirical study where we cut off email usage for five workdays for 13 information workers in an organization. We employed both quantitative measures such as computer log data and ethnographic methods to compare a baseline condition (normal email usage) with our experimental manipulation (email cutoff). Our results show that without email, people multitasked less and had a longer task focus, as measured by a lower frequency of shifting between windows and a longer duration of time spent working in each computer window. Further, we directly measured stress using wearable heart rate monitors and found that stress, as measured by heart rate variability, was lower without email. Interview data were consistent with our quantitative measures, as participants reported being able to focus more on their tasks. We discuss the implications for managing email better in organizations.

References

[1]

Acharya, U. R., Joseph, K. P., Kannathal, N., Lim, C. M., and Suri, J. S. Heart rate variability: A review. Medical & Bio Engineering & Comp 44, 12 (2006), 1031--1051.

[2]

Barley, S., Myerson, D., and Grodel, S. E-mail as a source and symbol of stress. Organization Science 22, 4 (2011), 887--906.

Digital Library

[3]

Bellotti, V., Ducheneaut, N., Howard, M., Smith, I., and Grinter, R. E. Quality versus quantity: E-mail-centric task management and its relation with overload. HumanComputer Interaction 20, 1 (2005), 89--138.

Digital Library

[4]

Berntson, G. G. and Cacioppo, J. T. Heart rate variability: Stress and psychiatric conditions. In M. Malik and A. J. Camm (Eds.), Dynamic Electrocardiography, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK, 2007.

[5]

Berntson, G., Bigger, J., Eckberg, D., Grossman, P., Kaufmann, P., Malik, M., Nagaraja, H., Porges, S., Saul, J., Stone, P., and van der Molen, M. Heart rate variability: Origins, methods, and interpretive caveats. Psychophysiology 34, 6 (1997), 623--648.

[6]

Bluedorn, A., Kalliath, T., Strube, M., and Martin, G. Polychronicity and the Inventory of Polychronic Values (IPV): The development of an instrument to measure a fundamental dimension of organizational culture. J of Managerial Psychology 14, 3/4 (1999), 205--231.

[7]

Boutcher, S. H., Nugent, F. W., McLaren, P. F., and Weltman, A. L. Heart period variability of trained and untrained men at rest and during mental challenge. Psychophysiology 35, 1 (1998), 16--22.

[8]

Czerwinski, M., Horvitz, E., and Wilhite, S. A diary study of task switching and interruptions. In Proc. CHI 2004, ACM Press (2004), 175--182.

Digital Library

[9]

Cutrell, E., Czerwinski, M., and Horvitz, E. Notification, disruption, and memory: Effects of messaging interruptions on memory and performance. In Proc. INTERACT 2001, IOS Press (2001), 263--269.

[10]

Dabbish, L. A. and Kraut, R. E. Email overload at work: An analysis of factors associated with email strain. In Proc. CSCW 2006, ACM Press (2006), 431--440.

Digital Library

[11]

Fogarty, J., Hudson, S. E., Atkeson, C. G., Avrahami, D., Forlizzi, J., Kiesler, S., Lee, J. C., and Yang, J. Predicting human interruptibility with sensors. ACM Trans. Computer-Human Interaction 12, 1 (2005), 119--146.

Digital Library

[12]

González, V. M. and Mark, G. "Constant, constant, multitasking craziness": Managing multiple working spheres. In Proc. CHI 2004, ACM Press (2004), 113--120.

Digital Library

[13]

González, V.M., Nardi, B., and Mark, G. Ensembles: Understanding the instantiation of activities. Information Tech & People 22, 2 (2009), 109--131.

[14]

Gorman, J. M. and Sloan, R. P. Heart rate variability in depressive and anxiety disorders. American Heart Journal 140, 4, Part B (2000), 77--83.

[15]

Hart, S. G. and Staveland, L. E. Development of NASATLX (Task Load Index): Results of empirical and theoretical research. In P.A. Hancock and N. Meshkati (Eds.), Human Mental Workload. North-Holland, Amsterdam (1988), 239--250.

[16]

Hewlett, S. A. and Luce, C. B. Extreme jobs: The dangerous allure of the 70-hour workweek. Harvard Business Review 84, 12 (2006), 49--59, 162.

[17]

Hjortskov, N. Rissén, D., Blangsted, A., Fallentin, N., Lundberg, U., and Søgaard, K. The effect of mental stress on heart rate variability and blood pressure during computer work. Eur J of Appl Phys 92, 1-2 (2004), 84--89.

[18]

Hutchings, D. R., Smith, G., Meyers, B., Czerwinski, M., and Robertson, G. Display space usage and window management operation comparisons between single monitor and multiple monitor users. In Proc. AVI 2004, ACM Press (2004), 32--39.

Digital Library

[19]

Jackson, T., Dawson, R., and Wilson, D. Reducing the effect of email interruptions on employees. International J of Information Management 23, 1 (2003), 55--65.

Digital Library

[20]

Klosterman, C. My zombie, myself: Why modern life feels rather undead. The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2010.

[21]

Mark, G., González, V., and Harris, J. No task left behind? Examining the nature of fragmented work. In Proc. CHI 2005, ACM Press (2005), 321--330.

Digital Library

[22]

Mintzberg, H. Structured observation as a method to study managerial work. J Mgt Stud 7, 1 (1970), 87--104.

[23]

Nair, R., Voida, S., and Mynatt, E. D. Frequency-based detection of task switches. In Proc. HCI 2005. Springer (2005), 94--99.

[24]

Perlow, L. A. The time famine: Towards a sociology of work time. Admin Sci Quarterly 44, 1 (1999), 57--81.

[25]

Renaud, K., Ramsay, J., and Hair, M. "You've got email!" & shall I deal with it now? Electronic mail from the recipient's perspective. IJHCI 21, 3 (2006), 313--332.

[26]

Robbins, S. Tips for mastering e-mail overload. Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (2004, Oct 25). http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4438.html.

[27]

Stein, P. K., Ehsani, A. A., Domitrovich, P. P., Kleiger, R. E., and Rottman, J. N. Effect of exercise training on heart rate variability in healthy older adults. American Heart Journal 138, 3 (1999), 567--576.

[28]

Turkle, S. Alone Together. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2010.

[29]

Wacjman, J. and Rose, E. Constant connectivity: Rethinking interruptions at work. Organization Studies 32, 7 (2011), 941--961.

[30]

Whittaker, S., and Sidner, C. Email overload: Exploring personal information management of email. In Proc. CHI 1996, ACM Press (1996), 276--283.

Digital Library

[31]

Yeragani, V. K., Sobolewski, E., Igel, G., Johnson, C., Jampala, V. C., Kay, J., Hillman, N., Yeragani, S., and Vempati, S. Decreased heart-period variability in patients with panic disorder: A study of Holter ECG records. Psychiatry Research 78, 1-2 (1998), 89--99.

Cited By

Lee HJung YShin YPark HChoi WLee U(2024)FamilyScope: Visualizing Affective Aspects of Family Social Interactions using Passive Sensor DataProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36373348:CSCW1(1-27)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3637334
Brombacher HDritsa DVos SHouben S(2024)"To Click or not to Click": Back to Basic for Experience Sampling for Office Well-being in Shared Office SpacesProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642295(1-18)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642295
Levy ERafaeli SAriel Y(2024)The effects of online interruption pace and richness on task performanceAtlantic Journal of Communication10.1080/15456870.2024.2317434(1-15)Online publication date: 15-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2024.2317434
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

"A pace not dictated by electrons": an empirical study of work without email
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Computing / technology policy

Recommendations

Email Makes You Sweat: Examining Email Interruptions and Stress Using Thermal Imaging
CHI '19: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Workplace environments are characterized by frequent interruptions that can lead to stress. However, measures of stress due to interruptions are typically obtained through self-reports, which can be affected by memory and emotional biases. In this paper,...
Read More
Email Duration, Batching and Self-interruption: Patterns of Email Use on Productivity and Stress
CHI '16: Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

While email provides numerous benefits in the workplace, it is unclear how patterns of email use might affect key workplace indicators of productivity and stress. We investigate how three email use patterns: duration, interruption habit, and batching, ...
Read More
Focused, Aroused, but so Distractible: Temporal Perspectives on Multitasking and Communications
CSCW '15: Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing

A common assumption in studies of interruptions is that one is focused in an activity and then distracted by other stimuli. We take the reverse perspective and examine whether one might first be in an attentional state that makes one susceptible to ...
Read More

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '12: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

May 2012

3276 pages

ISBN:9781450310154

DOI:10.1145/2207676

General Chair:
Joseph A. Konstan
University of Minnesota
,
Program Chairs:
Ed H. Chi
Google
,
Kristina Höök
Mobile Life at KTH

Copyright © 2012 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Sponsors

SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 05 May 2012

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Research-article

Conference

CHI '12

Sponsor:

SIGCHI

CHI '12: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

May 5 - 10, 2012

Texas, Austin, USA

Acceptance Rates

Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

143
Total Citations
View Citations
1,910
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)124
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)12

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Lee HJung YShin YPark HChoi WLee U(2024)FamilyScope: Visualizing Affective Aspects of Family Social Interactions using Passive Sensor DataProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36373348:CSCW1(1-27)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3637334
Brombacher HDritsa DVos SHouben S(2024)"To Click or not to Click": Back to Basic for Experience Sampling for Office Well-being in Shared Office SpacesProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642295(1-18)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642295
Levy ERafaeli SAriel Y(2024)The effects of online interruption pace and richness on task performanceAtlantic Journal of Communication10.1080/15456870.2024.2317434(1-15)Online publication date: 15-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2024.2317434
Verlinden ABaillien ENotelaers GVerbruggen M(2024)Always on? Development and validation of the Employee Digital Disconnection Scale (EDDS)Work & Stress10.1080/02678373.2024.2364597(1-27)Online publication date: 13-Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2024.2364597
Aylsworth TCastro CAylsworth TCastro C(2024)Mobile Devices and Autonomy: Individual-Level EffectsKantian Ethics and the Attention Economy10.1007/978-3-031-45638-1_3(67-114)Online publication date: 22-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45638-1_3
Lascău LBrumby DGould SCox A(2023)“Sometimes It’s Like Putting the Track in Front of the Rushing Train”: Having to Be ‘On Call’ for Work Limits the Temporal Flexibility of CrowdworkersACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/363514531:2(1-45)Online publication date: 4-Dec-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3635145
Chow KFritz THolsti LBarbic SMcGrenere J(2023)Feeling Stressed and Unproductive? A Field Evaluation of a Therapy-Inspired Digital Intervention for Knowledge WorkersACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/360933031:1(1-33)Online publication date: 29-Nov-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3609330
Tarafdar MWenninger HStich J(2023)Email Overload: Investigating Technology-fit Antecedents and Job-related OutcomeACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/3595863.359586954:2(77-96)Online publication date: 1-May-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3595863.3595869
Saha KIqbal S(2023)Focus Time for Wellbeing and Work Engagement of Information WorkersExtended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3585688(1-11)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544549.3585688
Chang XHsu FLiang EChiou ZChuang HTseng FLin YChang Y(2023)Not Merely Deemed as Distraction: Investigating Smartphone Users’ Motivations for Notification-InteractionProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581146(1-17)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544548.3581146
Show More Cited By

View Options

Get Access

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

View Table of Contents