New book encourages e-mail 'dieting'

Two authors have good news for e-mail users who spend too much time managing their inboxes. The solution is a book that combines the simple concept of dieting and e-mail control in a 121-page read.\nMartin A. Siegel, executive associate dean of the School of Informatics at IU, co-authored "The E-mail Diet Book" with Steve E. Clapp, president of a nonprofit organization in Fort Wayne. The book targets losing pounds of e-mail, instead of weight, and focuses on different strategies to get one's inbox into shape.\nClapp said the idea of applying dieting strategies to managing an e-mail inbox came to the pair at a Sunday brunch more than five years ago.\n"The conversation turned to the topic of e-mail; how do you manage it and (get) rid of it. We saw similarities between getting e-mail controlled and dieting," Siegel said. "I have been challenged by weight in my lifetime and have read and owned a number of diet books. 'The E-mail Diet Book' follows the format of a regular diet book."\nWith chapter titles like "Maintaining Your Diet at Work" and "How to Develop Lifetime Slenderness," a quick glance might fool some into thinking this is just another diet book, Clapp said. But he said they provide chocolate recipes at the end of each chapter, in addition to practical approaches to maintaining e-mail at both home and work. The approaches are simple and without technical jargon, both authors said.\n"I was worried that my colleagues might not think the book is sophisticated enough, but for the average person, we have eliminated the heavy jargon and given them only what they're interested in," Siegel said.\nThe book is available at Amazon.com for $13.95.\n"I think the analogy they've made (between dieting and e-mail) is interesting, but I'm comfortable with the way I handle my e-mail," first-year graduate student Neel Bhatt said. "As a student, I don't think this book would be of too much help, maybe once I've started my career." \nThe book also offers strategies that can help readers avoid spam and identity theft. Additionally, "The E-mail Diet Book" provides some damage control suggestions to readers who are already weighed down with an over-the-quota inbox.\nIU Webmail is an official means of communication between professors and students, and each e-mail account has a quota of 100 megabytes, according to the UITS Web site.\nAccording to an excerpt from the book, e-mail users send more than 20 billion e-mails per day. This number is expected to increase to 55 billion messages per day in 2007.\nClapp said it is good practice for students to establish healthy e-mail habits now and then continue to use them in the professional world.