Nick Saban's secret to maximize productivity? Don't deal with emails

During Alabama's Sugar Bowl presser yesterday, Nick Saban shared (perhaps accidentally) a few of his rather interesting quirks that have led to both his success, and productivity in the coaching profession.

One thing in particular that we could all learn from Saban is in his approach to emails and text messages. To put it in the simplest terms, he doesn't deal with them. Saban noted that he prefers a personal touch in his interactions.

“We didn’t have all that stuff when I was growing up." he explained.

“A lot of our players can’t function unless they’re in constant communication with a lot of people. I see value in communication, but not just sending something somebody can read. That’s not a personal touch.”

Saban went on to explain his approach to emails, using his wife, Terry, as a prime example of what he refuses to do.

“Terry and I go away for a weekend, and we come back and she has 387 emails. She spends the next day answering 387 emails."

"I spend the next day doing something productive. I never get any emails. If you don’t send any, you don’t get any.”

His approach with text messages is similar, but he pointed out the reason he doesn't respond to them is quite different.

“I do get text messages, and I do read them. I just don’t know how to send them back.”

We've all seen lists on being more productive that say to never check your email right away in the morning, or first thing upon arriving at the office, but Saban saying that he flat out doesn't use in as we head into 2015 is fascinating.

As interesting as it is, I wouldn't recommend following in Saban's footsteps if you plan on staying in the coaching profession for the long haul. Wait until you have a few national titles under your belt before trying your hand at the no email and text messaging approach.