HOPE YOU’RE WELL
Get over your email guilt and improve your productivity.
Last year, writer Melissa Febos posed a question via an essay in literary magazine Catapult: “Do you want to be known for your writing, or for your swift email responses?” She argued that the solution to us being overwhelmed by emails isn’t to bow down to the increasingly accepted expectation of the immediate response. She was onto something.
Research suggests we spend around 13 hours per week reading and responding to emails. As author and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss puts it, “Email eats so much time. First, because it’s everyone else’s agenda for your time, often including manufactured emergencies. Second, email allows you to fool yourself into thinking you’re being productive.”
Basically, we have an email etiquette problem. We’re either placing our own importance ahead of others, or creating more work for everyone by pretending to be productive.
At this point, it’s almost a given that our email will continue to spiral out of control. What we need is to set new rules to help us send and (please, dear god) receive less. Prioritising important work while still managing emails comes down to a choice to be imperfect at the latter. Need help? Try our guide.
EXERCISE AGENCY
On average, people respond to an email notification within six seconds, but each interruption requires up to nine minutes of mental recovery. The University of California found when people checked email out of their own violation rather than being prompted, they reported higher productivity. Want to get out of the door on time? Switch those notifications off.
DON’T APOLOGISE
That viral tweet, “Adulthood is emailing, ‘Sorry for the delayed response!’ back and forth until one of you dies”, has never felt more relevant. Most emails don’t have deadlines, so why apologise? Rather than the onus being on the recipient, become a better sender. State a deadline if you have one, and if not, let’s cut each other some slack. A good alternative to apologising: “Thank you for your patience.”
CHECK YOURSELF
The more we send, the more we receive. Cut nicety-only replies such as, “Great, thanks” and keep emails to five sentences or less. Write a clear subject line and ensure the first sentence provides the reason for emailing, the action required and any time sensitivity.
RETHINK THE OUT-OFOFFICE RESPONSE
It’s useful for setting expectations, but can sound condescending. Avoid busybragging about your overloaded inbox and only include information that makes the next email interaction smoother, like links to FAQs or what times you check your inbox and answer emails (see Australian author and beauty entrepreneur Zoë Foster Blake: “I now check it twice daily, and reply only to those that are critical. Or from Beyoncé”). A little humour also goes a long way in smoothing over any e-rage upon receiving your OOO.