I have decided to largely ditch my email inbox (see below for more), so here are the best ways to contact me:

1. General: Twitter for most communication (Leo on Twitter). I prefer public communication.

2. Projects: Use this wiki for anything with more detail, relating to Zen Habits or any other projects.

3. Comments on posts: Comment at the end of recent Zen Habits posts. Please don't reply to a Zen Habits email to give me a comment, as it won't be read.

4. Advertisers: please see Advertising or buy via my advertise page.

5. Interviews: please see instructions here ... and please don't abuse this page or we will no longer speak! :)

6. Refund/purchase problems: If you need a refund or are having problems with an ebook purchase, please email zenhabits+refund@gmail.com ... and for refunds, please be sure to include the full name and email address you used when purchasing from Paypal, so we can issue the refund immediately.

7. Guest posts: See the Guest posts page.

8. Suggestions for Zen Habits: Zen Habits suggestions.

Please do NOT email me or contact me on Twitter or on this wiki to promote your blog, or your product or service, to review your book, to join your network, to become an affiliate, or to do a guest post. I am not accepting any of these and will not appreciate being contacted for these purposes.

I am also not accepting consulting work at this time, as I'm completely booked.

I'm sorry for the clamp down on communications, but I've made this tough decision so I can focus on what's most important to me: creating.

Why I'm Ditching Email 

I’ve declared independence from email.

After more than 15 years of dealing with email, of checking email multiple times a day, of responding over and over throughout the day, of deleting spam and unsubscribing from newsletters and unwanted notices, of filtering out messages and notifications, of deleting those dumb forwarded jokes and chain mails …

I’m done.

I’m done, because email takes up too much of my time. I’m done, because I don’t like being at the mercy of every incoming request, because I would rather spend my free time creating than replying to emails.

A few questions I’ve been getting so far:

Q: Why so extreme? Why not just filter and check email less often?

A: I’ve tried a number of tactics with email, including extreme filtering. For awhile I set up a special email address for friends and family and close colleagues, and everything else was shunted into a special folder to be read less frequently. It still took up too much of my time. I don’t check email as often as most people, but it was still a chore I have been enjoying less and less. So I decided to try something different.

Q. Why not just get a Virtual Assistant?

A. I actually had one for awhile, and it worked fine, but inevitably there are emails I need to respond to. I’m going to try this and I really think it’ll be easier.

Q. Won’t you lose your connection with your readers?

A. Maybe a little, but to be honest, email hasn’t been my favorite way of connecting with readers for awhile now. I much prefer the comments section here on Zen Habits, as well as Twitter. I love connecting with readers, but there has to be a balance between connecting and creating, and I have to find a way of living that works for me.

Q. I couldn’t do it — it’s required for my business.

A. Possibly, and I’m not saying you should. I really think all businesses could rethink their use of email, and use it less. There are better solutions for collaborating, for scheduling meetings or events, for getting group decisions, for managing group tasks, and so on. But people will do that when they decide email isn’t working for them as it should.

Q. What about friends and family?

A. They know how to get ahold of me. I much prefer the phone as a form of personal communication anyway. Those who want to send me messages can get on Twitter, which they should have done by now anyway, the dorks.

Q. Won’t you lose customers?

A. It’s possible. I really think people who want to get in touch with me will — I’ve provided a way to do that. If that doesn’t work for some people, it’s something I’ll live with. I can’t live my life dictated by trying to find what works for every single person.

Q. Is Twitter really any better than email? Won’t it just be another inbox?

A. I’ve found that I don’t need to check Twitter as often, or spend as long processing it. It’s not an always-connected, always-communicating tool that some people think it is — you can choose when and what to process, and only do it 1-2 times a day if you like, scanning your messages and not necessarily replying unless you feel the need to do so. It will be another inbox, but not as tyrannical as email.

I’m pretty sure there will be other objections, or people scoffing at this, but really, if it works for me, why not do it? And if it doesn’t work, I’ll switch back.

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