One executive running a large organization in the educational field, when asked about the number of e-mails she received each day, responded: ‘‘Five hundred.’’ She then continued in a rather upbeat manner, ‘‘But frankly, I don’t read any of them. If I did, I wouldn’t really be doing my job. My job is to think about the future of education in my country.’’ She added, ‘‘These days, given the work I do, it isn’t a question of obtaining information. The more important question is how to push information away so that I don’t suffer from information overload. I need to have time to think.’’ Once she elaborated on her information strategy, her way of dealing with it turned out to be less dramatic than seemed to be the case. She had an assistant who slogged his way through all her e-mails, and she spent a few hours every week discussing the more problematic ones with him. She realized, however, that she needed plenty of time to reflect. She didn’t want to get caught up in the manic behavior so many executives share, frantically processing e-mail after e-mail. As she said, ‘‘I’m not paid to do that kind of work. If I’m so busy doing what people expect me to do, there will be no time left for what I ought to do. You can’t do creative work at a cyber pace. Creative work has its traditional rhythms. To be creative, you need a more serene state of mind. Over the years I have learned the hard way that technology sometimes encourages people to confuse busyness with effectiveness. I need quiet time to be able to function.’’
