The Email Principle

Image by ivan petrov at stock.xchng.

You’re busy. You get hundreds of email messages every day. You wonder, how do I make it stop???

Well, there is no magic solution, of course. However, being familiar with the email priciple can help.

So what the heck is the email principle? Well, I made it up. It is stupid obvious, but often overlooked. Ready?

The more email you send, the more you are going to receive.

Think about it!

• You email someone with a question. They are going to email back with a question clarifying your question and off you go.
• You send an email with an update on a task you completed. The person for whom you did the work responds back with a “Thanks!”.
• You send a follow-up email asking somebody for status. Now you have to flag that email as “waiting for response” and continue to check in, if you don’t hear back.

So what’s the alternative? Well, there was a time when we did not have email. Back then, we used phones and even (gasp!) left the comfort of our office chairs to walk over to the person’s office to follow up. And now, with instant messaging technology, many quick discussions can be handled via this channel, reducing the amount of email in your inbox.

Looking at an empty inbox is a beautiful thing. It’s possible (I’m there right now…).

Type less, talk more.