Life with Less "E"
What to do? My email is attacking me. I’m getting overloaded with spam from all angles. This morning, I woke to an email from the supposed Internal Revenue Service, informing me of a refund. All I had to do was fill out some dicey looking form. Yeah, right.
How to live with less email? I’m not sure, but I think I’m going to try a few “retro” tricks:
• Pick up the phone every once in a while. I never liked phones – no record of the convo, takes to long
and well, I usually don’t give great phone. But now I’m going to try to do better.
• Stop emailing myself little notes. Get a notebook and write down my “brilliance at 2 a.m.” thoughts. Most of the time, they’re not that brilliant and I forget to review them anyway.
• Put down the blackberry. There’s nothing more annoying than having a conversation with someone when they suddenly stop everything to stick their nose in their stupid little machine. It’s rude (but I’ve done it on occasion, too).
• Don’t email thank you notes. The last vestige of civility is the handwritten thank you note. Don’t let them be taken over by the computer gods.
• Answer emails two or three times a day. I used to know someone who told his staff he would only answer emails on Sundays. That’s a little extreme. However, not every email is urgent. And if it’s that urgent…again… just talk to the person. Sheesh.
