Rush Hour Errors
This is a busy time of year. When I get in a hurry, I'm more likely to make a mistake. One of the areas particularly susceptible to rush hour errors: e-mail. Here are a few holiday e-mail tips.
When your time is limited, resist responding to e-mails - especially ones you think are important! Even if the e-mail is urgent, use extreme caution when responding under the stress of a time limit. Use these hurried blocks of time to weed out e-mails. Delete junk e-mails and forwards you aren't interested in.
Mark as "unread" those e-mails that deserve a more studied approach and thoughtful response. This will trigger you to look at them again later.
You don't have to respond to every e-mail. I have trouble with this one. I write a thank you e-mail when someone sends me a thank you e-mail! But at least the person who thanked me knows I received their thoughtful response!
Holidays bring joy and frustration. Do not read or respond to e-mails when you are in a heightened emotional state. This can be a good (excited) or bad (overwhelmed) emotional state. Any emotion can lead you to read into an e-mail something that isn't really there.
How carefully do you read correspondences? Do you skim your e-mails in haste, write a quick reply, and then hit send? Or do you wait to read e-mails until you have the time to give them the attention they deserve? Do you take time to give a thoughtful reply? Do you proof your e-mail before you send it? Many a misunderstanding could be avoided if we'd all practice prudence and patience with our e-mails.