This is an important and crucial topic for everyone to know about. There, I've said it online so it must be true. It has become a place I can no longer manage, navigate effectively or efficiently, and if anything it makes me a disgruntled colleague and distant family member. I hate my inbox and I feel like I'm not alone. Here is my story:
I have five, maybe six different email addresses. Each gets anywhere between 1 and 79 emails per day. Of those emails (all are important) I might scan the subject heading and, if possible, all 37 characters of the preview of the email and then I make a choice.
a) mark as read
b) hope I'll remember to read later
c) read immediately
The majority of things in my inbox will go into the a) category. Several will disappear into the nebulous b) cloud, and very few ever make it into the c) category. And YET people still email me. Pages of information. Invites, updates, inspirational stories... euughh.... inspirational stories... you SEE, years of this horrible information aggregator has made me intolerant of inspirational stories!
But I'm not one to complain before I think about what went wrong and how can I fix it. And in my world it needs to be fixed. As a teacher it is in my legal contract to check my email every day, most of the day, and regularly to ensure that important information is not missed -- which, it turns out, is why I keep missing important information; there's so much of it that I don't actually interpret any of it!
I'm on a year leave of absence from work. Some say it is because I have two boys under 4 to look after but secretly it's because I had to find a way to get away from my work email address. Since August 1 I have willingly chosen not to open the inbox for any reason because -- well, I don't officially work there and so I don't have to, but more importantly, if it's important there are ways of getting that information to me. I also get a sick joy out of wondering how long it will be before the tech-support have to get involved because they can't archive that much mail on the server... but I digress.
What's Wrong and How Can We Fix It (Opinions and Offerings)
1. Weekly Updates - why, oh why do people need to send me weekly updates by email? I'm not talking specific Employee reports to Employer type of updates, I'm talking about the, "This is My Week So Far" or "This Week in the CFL" type emails. Number One: If I cared, I'd subscribe to your blog, and likely scan these once a month sooner than have these pollute my inbox. Please start, and maintain a proper public blog site, and quit mailing me and everyone else something that no one reads when they get it anyway!
2. Mass Mail-Outs of Massive Documents - there are two types of documents you want to send me; one that you and I need the same copy of, and one that you want me to comment on. So you're going to send me this document that takes up time to download so I can make a comment on it and upload it back to you? When there are many many decent collaborative spaces out there you could just send me a link to? Save the planet, stop emailing me documents.
3. Your Thoughts, Opinions or Questions - Why are these showing up in my email? Publish them to twitter and if someone out there happens to see it and thinks it's worth the time they'll answer it faster than I can get to it. If you really want me to weigh in, then @ me. And look, I'm only reading the first 37 characters right now, so at least if you tweet me you get another 100 characters as a bonus. Plus you'll do me the service of tagging it for me if you think of a reasonable one, and Twitter archives these when they become obsolete so I don't have to. If you really think your thoughts and opinions are that important (and they very well could be) then BLOG them, and collaborate with the the world and then just share the link.
4. Pictures, Videos, (especially family stuff) - see number 2. Seriously. And if they're really important then see 3. If you're family, I mean no offense. Seriously, get an Instagr.am account, or Facebook, or at the very least, if you have them, use them, wisely... properly.
5. Urgent Requests - If it's that urgent instant message me. There's about 100 different ways to do this all of which will get my attention sooner than if you send it to my flooded inbox. If you message me too much, I'll just filter it anyway, and you'll get frustrated not getting an immediate response.
So What Does that Leave?
1. Documentation that Only I Need. Confirmations, Bills, Receipts, Taxes, Registrations... if you're not on this list then think twice before you hit send.
2. SPAM. Believe it or not there needs to be a place for this to go. I use two of my several email addresses just to sign up for contents, promotions, product registrations and any other company I suspect will be selling, or hacked for their contact lists. That way all my SPAM is in one spot. Did you know SPAM doesn't really stand for anything... it's just SPAM, like it's spelled... anyway.
3. Notifications - Not everything I do has an app for it yet that can update me via an annoying badge every time there's a change, and some of those changes I do need to know about tout-suite! So if I work with you and there is some data I need that has been uploaded to our shared work-space -- then notify me! Yes, YOU can!
If we can simply follow some of these practices then I foresee increased productivity, decreased stress, anxiety, and depression, and an overall increase in general health and mental well-being. Furthermore we can cut down on the useless virtual space that gets cluttered daily, and we will likely even cut down on the amount of phishing and SPAM because people will be using the social spaces more wisely.
So, will you please QUIT emailing me?! (unless of course you have to?)
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