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I'm starting to implement a rough buffer of 48 hours on all my email replies. Unless you are a) a personal friend b) this is your first email to me or c) it nee
by ErrantX 16y ago
I'm starting to implement a rough buffer of 48 hours on all my email replies. Unless you are a) a personal friend b) this is your first email to me or c) it needs addressing within 48 hrs.
It seems to be working so far - my productivity has gone up and the pace of email correspondence has slowed (so a 10 email conversation takes a couple of weeks now rather than a few hours).
Several people have commented that they enjoy talking with me for this reason; they don't feel pressured to reply "right now" and enjoy getting a response after some undetermined delay.
I sometimes wonder if the march of technology has had some downsides in terms of "right here right now" thinking.
- eitally 16y agoIt also gets people quickly into a mode of understanding that email isn't, and shouldn't be, considered a method of synchronous communication. There isn't much that bugs me more on a daily 8-5 basis than inappropriate [ab]use of email.
- eru 16y agoHow are you implementing your buffer? If you just add 48 hours delay to everything, that would probably not work very well. (And you probably aren't?) I guess if you just have a batch email answering session every 48 hours, that should be very good for your productivity.