Monday, September 20, 2010

Is Emailing Really More Efficient?

I am drowning in emails. Not just my own, but I also get my boss's emails for all his different ventures. All these beeping things popping up announcing "You've Got Mail!" in that maddening, cheery bouncy way. Today, has been fairly "light." A mere 103 (not counting the hundreds that go into my junk mail). 

When did life become so frantic? I find that emails are  not remotely efficient. They are far more time consuming - at least for me. As a writer, I'm afraid I agonize even over writing the shortest sentence. Sometimes, I get defiant and pick up the phone. I quite enjoy hearing the surprise on the other end as if I have called in from another planet. The conversation that follows covers all the elements of an email reply - and much more - a few shared jokes, an unexpected anecdote and the sense of warmth on the other end of the phone (unless you are calling Mumbai) plus there is a real human connection. 

I have just bought Julia Morgenstern's book "Never Check Email in the Morning." I'm anxious to learn some tips. Do you have any magic email tips you'd like to share? I'm all ears ... 

2 comments:

  1. I think sometimes we've forgotten how to make calls. LOL I don't get the 100-plus e-mails a day but I get enough between my work and blogging schedules that sometimes it does seem overwhelming. My best friend is over a large sales department for a large company and she receives upwards of 3 to 4 hundred e-mails a day. She said she spends hours just going through them. I can't image.

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  2. Good grief - 3 or 4 hundred. I'd collapse! What I also find is that my phone never rings at night. In fact, when we moved house, we didn't even get a landline installed.
    In the old days, I remember spending hours on the phone in the evenings. It was even worse getting stuck with someone you just weren't in the mood to talk to (in the days before caller ID)! Perhaps there is a trade-off!

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