A World Without Email

Cal Newport, a computer science professor and author, argues that constant messaging has broken knowledge work. He calls the prevailing workflow the hyperactive hive mind: an endless stream of email and chat that leaves no one able to disconnect or focus on substantive work, hurts profitability and makes workers miserable. Drawing on years of investigative reporting, along with sociology, behavioral economics and case studies of companies that run without email, Newport sets out principles for a different workplace. In it, clear processes rather than ad hoc messages settle who takes on each task and how it is checked, each person handles fewer things, and heavier investment in support eases the administrative load. It became a New York Times best seller.

Andrew Huberman called it excellent and said he greatly admires Cal Newport's work, though the two have never met.